WhatsApp, the trill arrives: here’s what it is

WhatsApp is testing a new feature: a trill to send to a friend to invite him to read an important message: Here's how it works

In the coming months WhatsApp could release a very special new feature: a "trill" that draws users' attention to received and unread messages. Those who have a few white hairs will surely remember the "trill" of MSN. Those, however, who are younger and have known in his short digital life only WhatsApp does not know what we are talking about.

To make a long story short, on MSN (Windows Live Messenger, a program now retired), the WhatsApp of the early 2000s that allowed users to chat for free from the computer, the "trill" was used to call a user and start to interact with him. The "trill" was a real mechanical sound, impossible not to hear it. For years it was one of the identifying features of MSN. Now WhatsApp developers seem intent on bringing back the "trill" to invite users to urgently read messages. The feature for the moment has only been released in the beta version of the application and not for all users. Before it will be available in the official version, you will have to wait a while, at least a couple of months, in the hope that the tests will be successful.

WhatsApp, how the "trill" works

For the moment there is not much information about this new feature. It should serve to draw the attention of a friend who has not yet read the message we sent him. The "trill" icon should be added in the interface of the application and it will make the smartphone of your interlocutor ring and vibrate. But it will only work if the recipient of the trill is also online.

There is no information even about how many times it will be possible to call your friend's attention. The developers might decide to limit the use of the trill to 3-4 times within 10-20 minutes.

The new feature has been released only to a small number of users and in the coming weeks it will come to all WhatsApp beta program subscribers. Only after passing the tests, the trill will be released in the official version of the app. It could be several months before it happens.

Just a hoax?

According to a revelation by WhatsApp Beta Info, a well-known leaker usually very well informed about WhatsApp news, the trill would be just a hoax. Or, at least, it is not a new feature that will arrive soon on the messaging platform. In the beta versions of WhatsApp for Android and iOS, in fact, there is no trace of such a tool, nor does it seem to be included in the development road map. In short, what seemed like it could be a novelty of the highest order could be the figment of the imagination of some good-timers.