7 Unnecessary WhatsApp Features I Wish You Removed
Quick links
- Catalogs and chat shopping
Key things
- The inclusion of features like statuses, channels, and avatars is forced, making WhatsApp more like a social media platform than a simple messaging app.
- Add-ons like communities and in-app purchases make things unnecessarily complicated, burdening the app’s interface and reducing the user experience.
- The integration of payments on WhatsApp seems unnecessary and unrelated to the original purpose of the platform.
With every update, WhatsApp introduces a lot of new features. While some features are undoubtedly useful, others just add to the noise. Here are seven WhatsApp features that I find unnecessary and why it’s time for WhatsApp to rethink their inclusion.
1 WhatsApp statuses
Originally popularized by platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, Stories allow users to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. But when WhatsApp introduced its own stories feature called Status, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
Do we really need another platform for temporary content? If I wanted to keep up with everyone’s daily updates, I would stick to social media platforms specifically designed for that.
With WhatsApp, my primary need is to simply communicate with friends and family – not to wade through a barrage of fleeting updates that I have little interest in or have already seen on other platforms.
Therefore, I hope that WhatsApp will rethink this feature and return to its roots as a simple messaging app, without distracting stories. Until then, I will be using a solution to block WhatsApp Status on my phone.
2 Instant video messages
One of my favorite features on WhatsApp is voice memos. I use it all the time to quickly share thoughts, updates, or just check in with friends. In 2023, the company introduced the ability to send instant video messages on WhatsApp, instead of just typing or recording audio. As much as I’m drawn to conveying emotion and tone through video, I find video messaging largely unnecessary on WhatsApp.
Honestly, when I first heard about this feature, I thought it might improve communication. After all, seeing someone’s face when they speak adds a personal touch. But in practice it seems a bit clumsy and cumbersome. While recording video messages is quick and straightforward, I often worry about how I look or come across.
The beauty of messaging is its simplicity, and Instant Video Messages make it complicated. For this reason, I tend to stick to voice memos or the good old typing method when communicating on WhatsApp.
3 Channels
WhatsApp channels are meant to facilitate one-way communication from creators, brands or influencers to their followers. My problem with this feature is that WhatsApp feels more like a social media platform and less like a messaging app. The last thing I want is wading through a sea of the same content that creators have already published on other platforms.
Sure, WhatsApp channels appear separately from my personal and group chats in Update tab and don’t send notifications by default, but their presence is still annoying. To me, Channels blurs the line between messaging and broadcasting and turns my app into a spam platform. That’s why I wish WhatsApp would remove them completely.
4 commonwealth
One feature I’ve never quite understood is WhatsApp Communities. While the idea of communities is to gather multiple groups under one roof, I find that this often leads to more confusion than clarity.
For starters, navigating between different groups within the community feels like extra work. Each community can host multiple subgroups, and with so many conversations happening at the same time, it’s hard to keep track of which group is discussing what. The sheer volume of notifications can easily drown out the messages that really matter to me.
Unlike WhatsApp channels, communities appear directly on the Chats tab, making it difficult for me to ignore them. I wish WhatsApp would focus on improving the existing group chat features rather than adding another layer of complexity with communities. Meanwhile, if you are a part of multiple groups and communities, you can take steps to keep those pesky WhatsApp notifications under control.
5 Avatars
While Meta’s introduction of Avatars makes perfect sense on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, I question the necessity of having avatars on a messaging app like WhatsApp.
In social networks where people define their identities and share diverse content, avatars can enhance the experience. However, on WhatsApp – where my contacts are more personal and direct – I don’t feel the need for an animated version of myself to convey emotions or thoughts.
With Avatars, it looks like WhatsApp is just trying to cash in on the latest social media trend of editable profiles and virtual identities. However, I find this concept out of place. I enjoy using avatars on other platforms where they serve a purpose, but in the context of WhatsApp I find them unnecessary and even somewhat distracting.
WhatsApp’s catalog feature allows businesses to showcase their products directly on their profiles. However, the concept of shopping on WhatsApp feels somewhat out of place, more so than other features like stories or communities.
While shopping directly from the messaging app may seem convenient to some, the integration seems out of place to me. It feels like WhatsApp is trying to be everything to everyone, but in doing so it’s reducing the core features that originally attracted me to the app.
What frustrates me the most is that this feature distracts from what WhatsApp was originally meant to be: a messaging app. I believe WhatsApp would be better without adding the complexity of catalogs and in-chat shopping to the user experience.
7 Payment integration
To make shopping easier, WhatsApp has also introduced a payment integration that allows users to make payments to registered businesses in Brazil, Singapore and my home country, India. This feature allows me to transfer money to friends and family as well. Even if I were inclined to use this feature, I doubt I would ever feel the same level of convenience and security as a dedicated banking app or payment service.
The idea of using WhatsApp for payments seems risky to me, especially when I consider the potential for fraud and data breaches. For something as essential as my financial information, I prefer to stick with platforms specifically designed to handle financial transactions.
In my opinion, an app like WhatsApp should avoid the area of financial transactions. I’d much rather see it prioritize increasing user privacy and security within the messaging service than try to compete in a space that’s already well-served by established financial apps.
WhatsApp started as a straightforward messaging platform and its simplicity made it appealing. However, it now feels cluttered with features that aren’t necessary for an instant messaging service. Therefore, I hope that WhatsApp will take a step back to reconsider and possibly remove some of these non-essential features.