WhatsApp has been making headlines ever since they announced that the messaging platform will be completely free for use. In fact, the Facebook Inc-owned company has been constantly in the news with facts, leaks and rumours about its upcoming features. For now, WhatsApp’s most awaited feature, after voice calling, is video calling.
While we are waiting for the final version (or beta release) of the video calling option, WhatsApp has quietly introduced a new font in its beta release allowing users to add bold, italic, and strikethrough text to instant messages. The function has come in the latest version of the app, and works on both iOS and Android – helping you say what you really mean when simple words and emojis just won’t cut it.
The new font is called FixedSys, and is fairly simple to use. However, though using fonts on WhatsApp is a little tedious to some, it can really help in distinguishing certain elements in the chat message.
The FixedSys font is simple and can be used in a similar manner how the older fonts are implemented. To use the FixedSys font, simply type the characters ``` before and after the word or sentence and send it. Here’s an example. ``` This is a test message ```To add text to a WhatsApp message, simply add an asterisk to either of the end of the text, i.e. *bold text appears here*
Using the font is simple, but users would need little patience finding the character for FixedSys font on the onscreen keyboard.
For italics, add an underscore to each end of the text, i.e. _italic text appears here_
For strikethrough text, add a tilde to each end of the text, i.e. ~strikethrough text appears here~
Each format can also be combined, for example to send text that’s both bold and italicised, just *_add asterisks and underscores together_*
All these formats give around 15 new unique formatting options to users thus helping them communicate more clearly with options to emphasise the important and to simply introduce variation during conversations.
This feature roll out for beta users comes right after WhatsApp decided to pull support for BlackBerry and Symbian devices.
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Header: In simple words
For : use *
: *This is a test message*
For Italics : use _
: _This is a test message_
For Strikethrough : use ~
: ~This is a test message~
For FixedSys font : use ```
: ```This is a test message```
