WhatsApp's 'Businesses Nearby' feature to add new dimension to messaging app; details here

The WhatsApp Business Nearby Search feature was first reported in December 2021. While it has only been a few days since its first sighting, WhatsApp has launched the Businesses Nearby Search as a feature in its stable update for WhatsApp Business application users. It is a feature that allows Business account users to search for other businesses such as restaurants from the search tab. 

The new feature enables a user to search for businesses such as grocery stores, apparel and clothing and restaurants nearby, hence it is named Businesses Nearby Search. When the feature was first spotted by WABetaInfo, there was little to no information about its global availability. However, now the feature is rolling out to both iOS and Android users. Whether the feature will make it to the regular WhatsApp app or not is still not known. 

(Image: WABetaInfo)

How to use WhatsApp Business Nearby feature? 

To access the WhatsApp Businesses Nearby feature, users shall open the WhatsApp app and then head over to the search section. Therein, as they enter the search command, they will see additional search filters called Restaurant, Grocery Store, Apparel & clothing and more. These filters will be accompanied by traditional filters including Photos, Videos, Links, GIFs, Audio and Documents. The tool will be one of WhatsApp features that make the application useful for things other than texting. 

While the feature looks like a tool for Business Account users to figure out about more businesses in their area, it can also be used as a search tool by regular WhatsApp users. In such a case, it could be very handy as it would allow users to search for multiple places near them. The WhatsApp Business nearby search might use a device's location to figure out the locality and then display results. 

In related news, WhatsApp is said to remove the WhatsApp Broadcast List and the WhatsApp New Group options from chat. According to another report, WhatsApp will keep the archived message section at the top of the home screen on WhatsApp but will remove the Broadcast List from the top right of the screen and the New Group options from the left of the screen. WhatsApp will remove both the options to make the chats look cleaner. To quote the report, WhatsApp is planning to "remove the row where you can open your broadcasts lists and create new groups." Currently, the WhatsApp Broadcast List and the WhatsApp New Group option allow users to send messages to multiple users in no time. 

(Image: PTI)