The holidays are here in full force. Christmas is less than a week away and the New Year will follow exactly a week after that. If you haven’t done all of your holiday shopping, I’m afraid it might be too late, but you can still give the gift of yourself over video calls and chat conversations.
WhatsApp is the biggest messaging app in the world, so it is going to get a whole lot of use during the holidays. In anticipation of the New Year, the Meta-owned platform has just unveiled a whole bunch of themed stickers, video call effects, and backgrounds.
WhatsApp Introduces A Bunch Of Fun New Features To Celebrate 2025 With
2025 is just around the corner at this point, and that means a whole lot of celebration is imminent. WhatsApp knows that too, and has brought in a whole lot of fun features to commemorate that. Whether you’re going to be on video calls, sending text messages, or even just sending pictures to your loved ones, WhatsApp has got quite a lot in store for you and the New Year.
Sticker Pack
I’m not a sticker person, but I know way too many people who are. WhatsApp has released an official sticker pack containing some neat little stickers to use to celebrate 2025.
To be honest, I can’t tell how half of them have to do with the New Year, but I guess I’m just out of the loop in some fashion.
Confetti Video Effect
If you’re on a video call or simply taking a picture or video in the WhatsApp app, there’s a new animated confetti effect available. Once you activate, confetti will burst up from the bottom of the screen and then slowly descend, just like real confetti. It’ll play over and over until you disable it.
Mirror Ball Video Background
Maybe you like video backgrounds a lot more than you care for video effects. If that’s the case, then WhatsApp has also released a new background for the New Year. This one is a bunch of mirror balls, and it is pretty snazzy. It’ll make for a good backdrop for those video calls late on New Year’s Eve.
2025 Video Filter
While the others carry the New Year energy, if you want something that is unmistakably about 2025, then the new video filter is probably for you. This one, just like some of the Snapchat filters that you might be familiar with, puts a 2025-themed frame in your viewfinder.
Video Playback Speed Controls Are Also Heading To WhatsApp For Android
As a little bonus, if you’re tired of having to watch the fifth ten-minute video that your friend is sending you, at 1x speed, then you’ll be glad to know that playback speed controls have been spotted in the beta version of WhatsApp for Android.
This feature has been available in the iOS version of the app for some time, letting you switch between 1.0x, 1.5x, and 2.0x speeds, and it is finally in the works for Android users.
