WhatsApp, owned by Meta, has introduced a special holiday update for , featuring new stickers, video call effects, and creative tools to enrich the New Year celebration experience for its global user base.
WhatsApp rolled out a New Year-themed update, as confirmed in a blog post on , ahead of what it anticipates to be its highest-usage day of the year. The update includes an Animated 2026 sticker pack
for personal chats, group chats, and status updates, along with new animated stickers specifically for Status posts. WhatsApp also added fun effects for video calls, such as fireworks, confetti, and stars, which appear on screen to make virtual celebrations more lively.
Furthermore, the update reintroduced confetti emoji reactions, triggering a cheerful animation in chats when users react with specific party-related emojis. For group chats, existing tools like polls, pinned messages, and live location sharing were highlighted to assist with party planning.
WhatsApp‘s holiday feature rollout reflects a common strategy among messaging platforms to boost engagement during peak festive seasons. Meta, WhatsApp‘s parent company, noted that on a regular day, the platform handles over 100 billion messages and 2 billion calls, with New Year periods consistently exceeding these volumes. Marketing experts, such as Daniel Nguyen of Airship, emphasize that personalizing relevant content and adapting messages and offers in real time
is crucial for retaining users, especially during holiday periods when app downloads spike but long-term retention can be challenging.
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