AB
148 posts
This week, I experimented with a new way to manage this account. I aimed to make my posts reach a larger audience here on X.
The first step was to stop publishing posts whenever a new WhatsApp beta update for iOS and Android becomes available. I consider these posts very useful because the community can comment on whether the update introduces new features or warn others not to install the update if it brings critical bugs. However, I decided to stop publishing these updates because I thought X might then limit the reach of my next posts. I know X obviously cannot show all my posts in users' feeds. So by limiting my posts to only important posts (1-2 per day), the situation should theoretically improve.
The second step was to provide more details about the updates I share here. My posts are now much more informative. In addition, the link is always posted as a reply. The Head of Product at X said that X no longer limits posts with links if they are well structured. However, I still preferred to publish the link as a reply to the post... just to avoid any possible interference. This means I gave more priority to the post published on X than to the article published on my website.
I tried to publish as little as possible on X. What was the result? The most viewed post of the week was the thread about lists for status updates, with 17k views. The posts with fewer views were: the feature to manage storage for status updates (5k), the new broadcast list management system (7k), and the feature to react to messages with both stickers and emoji (8k).
Here are the results: 173k views here on X between May 22 and May 28 (but this also includes views from all posts published before May 22). If we compare the data with last week (Monday through Friday, so between May 11 and May 15), my posts had a total of 192k views. This means that despite posting less this week and improving the quality of my posts, it did not help at all.
X is the first social media platform where I share the news. Two hours later, I post the same content on another social platform. I have always prioritized X above everything else. Unfortunately, it seems like the algorithm simply does not want to prioritize my posts by showing them in other users' feeds.
For example... yesterday, I published a post about a new feature that allows users to see who is online on WhatsApp in a new section. That post only got 11k views. Meanwhile, my analytics say that 90k followers were active yesterday. So approximately 12% of my active followers saw the post. Or maybe even less, since the post could also have been shown to non-followers on the "For You" tab. I'm not saying my post should appear in the feed of all 90k active followers who follow me... but if only 12% of my active followers see my posts (in the best-case scenario), this genuinely feels like extremely low reach to me. Additionally, active followers on one day may not be the same active followers on another day. So this percentage could slightly increase after one day, but not even that happened.
I'm sharing this report with you to show that something in the algorithm is clearly not working. And I'm not only talking about my own situation. A few days ago, I noticed a post containing just three emojis "😂😂😂" getting 60 million views. I also noticed many other users complaining about the same issue. I understand that the algorithm may want to push new users (or accounts with fewer followers) to get more visibility to encourage them to use X more. But I do not think it's fair to completely overlook accounts with many followers that worked very hard to build their audience over the years.
I understand that half of my posts redirect users to my website, but my posts always include a title and description. The post also contains the image from the article. So it already provides enough information to be considered a valid post. As a result, people might not even need to open the link. But it never helped. Even improving the quality of posts, moving links into replies, and reducing the number of posts published, did not help at all this week. I wasn't expecting to reach 1 million views this week... but is it really too much to ask for at least 30% of my active followers to see my posts?
At this point, I do not even know if I'm still motivated to keep putting effort into X. I will definitely continue posting for my loyal followers who follow WABetaInfo closely here on X. I do not want to force you to follow me elsewhere. I don't even want to leave the account I have worked on for years inactive.
I will end my experiment today. Probably, I may also reduce how often I am available here. Thank you.
English
AB retweetledi
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that adds a contact grid to the forward picker screen!
The current interface for the forward picker displays chats and groups in a vertical list. With the latest updates, WhatsApp brings a new layout to the forwarding interface. Specifically, some users will notice that the "Frequently contacted" list is no longer displayed in a vertical format. Instead, it appears as a grid. Currently, the grid is arranged into two rows, and it shows a total of 6 contacts at a time.
The new design improves how screen space is used by arranging contacts in a grid format. Instead of a long vertical list, the layout presents an additional contact within a more compact view. This makes it easier for users to quickly identify and select the people they interact with most often.
This feature is available to some users after installing the latest WhatsApp for iOS 26.19.76 update from the App Store. However, some users may be able to get the same feature by installing the previous update. This includes the beta version from TestFlight. Over the coming weeks, WhatsApp will make the new grid available to more users.
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WhatsApp is rolling out a new interface for the chat attachment sheet!
With the latest WhatsApp for iOS 26.19.75 update available on the App Store, some users can now experiment with a new way to share media in their chats and groups. Previously available to a limited number of users, WhatsApp now offers the ability to share media directly from the chat attachment sheet.
The attachment sheet now allows users to access their recent photos and videos, making the selection faster and more immediate. This means that users can now browse their latest media without opening the full gallery app. It's a new way to quickly send recent media files. The updated layout keeps the conversation visible while choosing photos and videos to send, and it is compatible with the Liquid Glass design language.
If users keep scrolling, they can expand the view to reveal the full gallery interface. This layout mirror the same experience of selecting the option "Photos" from the chat attachment sheet.
This feature is currently available to some users who install the latest versions of WhatsApp for iOS from the App Store and TestFlight. Over the coming weeks, WhatsApp will gradually make the feature available to more users as WhatsApp continues to monitor performance and refine the experience.
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