With the end of 2025 drawing ever closer WhatsApp is getting ready for its busiest period. As the clock strikes midnight around the world, a surge of messages will be sent over the platform, and Meta is using the arrival of 2026 as a launchpad for new features and options - as well as highlighting recent additions which lend themselves to this time of year.
The company has focused on the celebratory and connective nature of New Year, providing new ways to liven up the messages you send to friends and family. There is quite a lot here, from new stickers and call effects, to the arrival of animated stickers in Status updates.
WhatsApp uses its New Year blog post to highlight just how important it has become to people staying in touch with each other. The company says: "New Year's is our biggest day at WhatsApp, with each year breaking new records for how people text and call their friends and loved ones".
It goes on to say:
On a regular day, we support over 100 billion messages and 2 billion calls - but the twenty four hours when the world welcomes a New Year always tops our charts. Whether it's a video call that unites families across continents, or a group chat that organizes a celebration, we're proud to play a small role in making people's wishes for next year special.
When it comes to the new ways to celebrate with WhatsApp, attention is drawn to a quartet of features - features which WhatsApp describes as "festive touches [that will] help you share the moment with people who matter most":
But WhatsApp is keen to highlight the fact that it can be used for much more than just sending messages and making calls - adorned with festive extras or not. For anyone who is organizing a party, a gathering, a get-together, a meal out, or any other form of celebration - be that for the arrival of 2026, or any other reason - the blog post shares some tips for how WhatsApp can be used to help:
Are these features that you will be making use of in the run-up to your New Year celebrations?