WhatsApp isn't exactly a driving force of innovation in the messenger market, but the developers are always adding smaller tweaks to improve the experience. The company only recently brought back speed controls for voice messages and implemented improvements to its disappearing messages. As WABetaInfo reports, WhatsApp is now looking to make it much easier to add stickers to chats.

Left: Sticker suggestion highlight. Right: Current interface.

While it's already possible to quickly search for stickers with keywords like "love," "sad," "happy," and so on when you hit the emoji/sticker button on the left in the compose box, WhatsApp is now looking to give you sticker suggestions based on the first word you write in the text box. When there are suggestions, the emoji/sticker shortcut will light up in a different color. Once you tap it, the keyboard disappears, making way for a selection of stickers from your sticker packs related to what you typed.

The iOS interface is a little different, but the workflow is the same as the one on Android.

WABetaInfo managed to activate the feature in an upcoming version of WhatsApp, so it's not live just yet for anyone. The publication also noticed that the suggestions only work for first-party sticker sets, but it confirmed with third-party developers that support can easily be added by them when they associate emoji with stickers.

Similar features have long been available in competing products. Telegram, for example, gives you sticker suggestions based on the emoji you add to the compose box. It's still great to see WhatsApp catching up, as it's the de-facto messenger standard used by many people across the world.

WhatsApp Messenger Developer: WhatsApp LLC
Price: Free
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