Facebook-owned instant messaging platform WhatsApp is getting an update on iOS that brings some new features like a new animation for voice messages and disables receipts for voice messages, depending on the users’ read receipt settings. The new update comes as version 2.21.40 on iOS and has been made live on the App Store. Somehow, the WhatsApp listing on the App Store does not show any new changes in the changelog (it shows changes from the previous update). This is the first iOS update for WhatsApp since the app was updated back in November 2020 with features like disappearing messages.

While the App Store listing does not mention any update in the changelog, a report in WABetaInfo details the minor updates version 2.21.40 has brought on the iOS app. The update brings a new progress bar animation for voice messages. Once a voice messages reaches the end, the seeker jumps back to the start. This animation, according to the changes detailed by WABetaInfo, is only there on devices running on iOS 13 and later. Apart from the new voice note animation, the new update also brings changes to the read receipts for voice messages. Now, if a read receipt is disabled from the settings, it will be implemented in voice messages as well. A sender won’t be able to see if the reciever has listended to the voice message. Read receipts can be disabled by going into Settings > Account > Privacy > Read Receipts.

The ability to disable read receipts is not there on the Android version of WhatsApp. It is not known if WhatsApp is planning to bring the update to the Android version, but the WABetaInfor report said that there is also a possibility that WhatsApp may remove the feature from the next iOS update