WhatsApp Launches Animated Stickers, QR Codes and New Video Call Options

WhatsApp has released some new, interactive features, including animated stickers, new dark mode options, QR codes, and more.
First off, after they were spotted in testing in the latest beta version of the app, WhatsApp has now announced animated stickers in chats.

The stickers provide another way to engage within WhatsApp threads – and, as you may note, they’re exactly the same as those available in Messenger.
That’s no coincidence – as Facebook works towards merging the back-end functionality of its messaging platforms (Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram Direct), that essentially means that all the functions that are available in one will also need to be available in the others, in order to ensure people can communicate in a cohesive, integrated manner. So, anything you can do in a Messenger chat thread, you’ll soon be able to do in WhatsApp, or Instagram, and vice versa, which may provide some indicator of coming features in each.
Animated stickers are another small step forward in this process.
In addition to this, WhatsApp’s adding QR codes, which it’s also been testing over the past few months.