WhatsApp has rolled out a new "@all" feature that lets users ping every member of a group chat at once, mirroring the "everyone" or "here" mentions already found on platforms like Slack, Discord and Microsoft Teams. The addition is designed to help important or time-sensitive messages get noticed, though it also raises the risk of overuse in busy group chats, prompting WhatsApp to build in some safeguards.

In groups with more than 32 members, only admins will be able to use the @all ping, while ordinary members will not have access to it. The pings will still come through even in muted chats, but users can turn off notifications for @all mentions specifically in their settings. WhatsApp also announced other updates alongside this, including new poll features—such as setting an end time for voting, enabling anonymous votes, and giving poll creators a 15-minute window to edit questions—plus a quicker way to spin off a new group chat from an existing one with a single tap.