Meta-owned WhatsApp is rolling out a major update for group chats that introduces Member Tags, Text Stickers, and Event Reminders, aiming to make large conversations easier to follow and more expressive. The release lands alongside New Year 2026 celebrations, with festive touches such as fireworks on video calls and animated stickers in status updates designed to make digital gatherings feel more like in-person parties. Together, the tools extend earlier upgrades for groups, events, and calls into a more coordinated and visually rich experience for users who increasingly rely on WhatsApp for both social and community organizing.
New Features for Group Chats
The centerpiece of the group-focused update is a new Member Tags feature that lets users highlight specific people inside busy chats for faster responses and clearer follow-up. According to detailed guidance on how the feature works, Member Tags in group chats are designed to give tagged participants more precise notifications, which marks a shift from earlier, more generic mentions that could easily get lost in long message threads. For group admins and organizers, this kind of targeted alerting raises the stakes for accountability, since it becomes harder for tagged members to miss important instructions or questions in fast-moving conversations.
Alongside tagging, WhatsApp is introducing Text Stickers that let users turn short phrases or reactions into stylized, text-based stickers that can be dropped into any group conversation. The same technical overview explains that these Text Stickers are customizable and go beyond the static emojis and pre-made sticker packs that dominated earlier versions, giving users a way to emphasize key points or add personality without typing full messages every time. In practice, this means a sports team group can fire off a bold “Match at 7” sticker or a family group can share a playful “Call now” graphic, which helps important notes stand out visually and keeps group chats feeling more like dynamic message boards than plain text streams.
Event Reminders and Organization Tools
To address the problem of people forgetting meetups or online sessions, WhatsApp is also adding Event Reminders that live directly inside group chats and send scheduled alerts to members. The feature description notes that Event Reminders are part of a broader push to upgrade tools for groups, events, calls and more, filling a gap left by earlier group management options that relied on pinned messages or manual follow-ups. For communities that coordinate everything from neighborhood meetings to online classes inside WhatsApp, the ability to attach a structured reminder to a specific event reduces the risk that key dates will be buried under casual chat.
Usage instructions published for group admins and members explain that Event Reminders can be created and shared directly within a group so that all participants receive timely alerts, typically tied to a scheduled time and description. Once set, these reminders surface as notifications that prompt users to join a call, attend an in-person gathering, or simply remember a deadline, which can significantly cut down on missed events in large or loosely organized groups. For organizers, this effectively turns WhatsApp into a lightweight event management layer, reducing reliance on separate calendar apps and reinforcing the platform’s role as an all-in-one coordination hub.
Festive Video Call Enhancements for New Year 2026
Beyond text and scheduling, WhatsApp is leaning into visual effects for New Year 2026, particularly on video calls where many users now celebrate with friends and family who are not physically present. Reporting on the seasonal rollout highlights that fireworks will appear on the screen during video calls, creating a virtual backdrop that mirrors real-world celebrations. For users who cannot attend crowded events or live in places without large public displays, these effects provide a way to share in the spectacle, turning a standard group call into something closer to a shared countdown party.
Additional coverage of the seasonal package notes that WhatsApp has paired these fireworks with other video call effects and status tools tailored for New Year 2026, aiming to make group video sessions more immersive than earlier holiday updates. In multi-participant calls, these effects can be triggered so that everyone on the screen sees the same celebratory visuals at once, which helps synchronize the mood across different locations and time zones. For brands, creators, and community hosts who run virtual events on WhatsApp, the richer visual layer offers new ways to stage countdowns, toasts, or themed gatherings without requiring external streaming software.
Animated Stickers and Status Updates
The New Year 2026 update also extends beyond chats and calls into the status section, where users can now post animated stickers instead of being limited to static images. According to a breakdown of the new tools, animated stickers are being promoted as a key part of the festive features for New Year 2026, giving people a way to share looping celebratory graphics that feel more like short reactions than full videos. For group members who rely on status updates to broadcast plans or greetings to multiple chats at once, these animated elements can make simple “Happy New Year” posts more eye-catching and memorable.
Further details on the seasonal design emphasize that WhatsApp wants New Year 2026 chats to feel like a party, with festive animated stickers playing a central role in how users decorate their messages and statuses. By tying these animated stickers into broader status tools, the platform encourages people to share countdown clips, resolutions, or group invitations that can be viewed by entire contact lists, then discussed in dedicated group chats. This linkage between status and group conversations strengthens WhatsApp’s position as a place where celebrations are planned, experienced, and remembered, rather than just briefly acknowledged.
