Technologies

WhatsApp Channels: How the New Feature Will Work for Following Teams, People, Groups

Here’s everything we know so far about Channels, which Meta hopes you’ll use to follow your favorite teams, hobbies and more.

WhatsApp is a messaging app with big plans. A new feature, WhatsApp Channels, is coming to the encrypted messaging service, Meta-owned WhatsApp announced Thursday.

Channels is a «one-way broadcast tool for admins to send text, photos, videos, stickers and polls,» the social media giant said in a statement. You’ll be able to use a searchable directory to select channels to follow and can choose to follow channels for your favorite sports teams, hobbies or updates from local officials.

How Channels will work on WhatsApp

Channels will appear on a new tab within WhatsApp labeled Updates, separate from regular chats. Admins won’t be able to add followers to their channels, so you can’t be forced into receiving updates from any groups.

«Channels will aspire to be the most private broadcast messaging product available and will come with the strong privacy protections people expect from WhatsApp,» Meta’s statement said, noting that Channel history will only be available for 30 days, after which it will disappear automatically.

Phone numbers and profile photos of channel admins also won’t be shared with followers, and following a channel won’t reveal your phone number to the admin or to other followers.

Who will be on WhatsApp Channels?

A promotional video calls Channels «a private way to follow all topics you care about,» displaying such topics as «carpentry tips,» «traffic» and «weather.»

Partners at launch will include the soccer teams FC Barcelona and Manchester City, as well as the International Rescue Committee and the World Health Organization.

«We also believe there is an opportunity to support admins with a way for them to build a business around their channel using our expanding payment services as well as the ability to promote certain channels in the directory to help increase awareness,» the statement said.

When will WhatsApp Channels arrive?

A representative for WhatsApp didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on when exactly the new feature will arrive, but the Meta statement says that Channels will be first available in Colombia and Singapore before arriving in other countries.

For more on WhatsApp, here’s how to link multiple phones to your WhatsApp account and how to edit messages you’ve already sent.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 18, #1011

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 18 #1011.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is pretty tricky, but musicians might find the blue group easy. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Time between two things, maybe.

Green group hint: That smarts!

Blue group hint: Rockers know these well.

Purple group hint: You might write one out to pay a bill.