WhatsApp Introduces Meta AI Widget: Enhancing AI Accessibility in Messaging

WhatsApp makes it easier to get the best out of Meta AI

Meta has found another place to push its eponymous AI, after injecting it as a standalone chat character in the world's most popular messaging app. The latest public beta build of WhatsApp now allows users to create a dedicated widget for Meta AI. You can either go with a condensed view, or an expanded view where you see three different types of controls. The feature is rolling out with build number v2.25.6.14 of the app via Google Play Store. Recommended Videos In the basic format, the widget looks like a clean bar with "Ask Meta AI" written over the text field. Tapping on it takes you directly to the WhatsApp chat window with the AI chatbot. In the expanded view, you can either go with 1×3 grid layout, or a bigger boxy format where all three controls are labeled for better identification. The expanded view offers a higher degree of functional convenience, just the way Google's Gemini AI has been implemented as a shortcut on the iPhone's Lock Screen. Please enable Javascript to view this content The first one, with the circular Meta AI icon, launches the text chat in WhatsApp. The second button with a camera icon is for uploading photos, while the third option is for starting a voice chat, somewhat like the voice mode in ChatGPT or the Gemini Live interface. The overarching theme here is ease of access, saving users the hassle of launching the WhatsApp application, scrolling through their chat list, and then picking up the appropriate mode to start a conversation with Meta AI. As far as capabilities go, it can hold a conversation like any other voice-based AI chatbot out there. You can also ask it to generate images, or have it summarize documents. I asked it to break down a research paper by providing the URL, and Meta AI did a decent job at it. Aside from chatting with Meta AI directly, users can also forward messages and even summon it in group chats by using the @ shortcut. It is worth pointing out that Meta might use details of your interactions with the AI, but won't have access to other chats as they remain end-to-end encrypted.

WhatsApp Beta Testers Can Now Try Out These Two AI Features

WhatsApp's new widget adds shortcuts to three Meta AI features WhatsApp has started testing two new features on recent beta versions of the messaging app on Android. The Meta-owned chat service has added a new widget that makes it easier for users to access its Meta AI chatbot, without having to open the app. Meanwhile, a new AI-generated group icon feature is available to some beta testers, and users can use Meta AI to create and set group photos using prompts. These features are eventually expected to make their way to all users on WhatsApp for iOS and Android. After updating to WhatsApp beta for Android 2.25.6.10 (via feature tracker WABetaInfo), some beta testers will see a new option that allows them to generate images using Meta AI. After tapping on the pencil icon while viewing a group's existing icon, users will be presented with a fifth option titled Create AI Image. Gadgets 360 was able to confirm that the feature is available on the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android. After tapping on Create AI Image, users will see a Meta AI prompt screen. Beta testers can enter a prompt and wait for the chatbot to generate multiple images, then swipe through the options to pick a new group icon. Meanwhile, the more recent WhatsApp beta for Android 2.25.6.14 update that rolled out to testers a couple of days ago introduced a new widget that can be added to the home screen. This is essentially a shortcut that allows users to quickly access the Meta AI chatbot, without first having to open WhatsApp. While WABetaInfo's screenshot shows a much larger widget that has three selectable buttons -- Ask Meta AI, Camera, and Voice -- Gadgets 360 was only able to add a slimmer version of the widget, which shows the Ask Meta AI button after installing WhatsApp beta for Android 2.25.6.14. Tapping the Ask Meta AI button takes users to a chat with the Meta AI chatbot in WhatsApp, and users can either type in a query or use the Camera and Voice buttons for photo based or audio prompts. Users on the stable channel will need to open WhatsApp and select the Meta AI floating action button (FAB) to access the Meta AI chatbot, until the new widget is rolled out to all users.

WhatsApp wants you using Meta AI through a dedicated widget now

YouTube Premium is getting a big price hike internationally Summary Meta AI widget is now integrated into WhatsApp for Android, offering more AI tools for users. WhatsApp focuses on AI features with Meta's resources, but may need to expand the scope of efforts to catch up with competitors. The beta version of WhatsApp includes the new Meta AI widget; stable release expected soon. WhatsApp has been Meta's face and sole representative in the cutthroat instant messaging space, but it hasn't led the charge with new features. With AI coming into the picture, Meta's significant resources may give it the leg-up over other popular chat apps on Android. However, they aren't as useful if the AI isn't accessible. After plenty of experimentation and prominent placement, Meta AI now has its own widget integrated into WhatsApp. Related Meta AI: What is it, who can use it, and how? Learn about Meta AI and how you can use this free, open source artificial intelligence to chat, create images, and more Posts For decades, WhatsApp for Android had just a handful of widget options like chat shortcuts and a scrollable list of unread chats. Since the parent company Meta has introduced its AI tool, simply named Meta AI, WhatsApp has accommodated it as well. Thus far, we've seen this AI tool accessible through a floating action button, an in-conversation tag, and a dedicated search bar atop the list of your conversations. Following an initial sighting in January, reputable WhatsApp beta feature trackers WABetaInfo recently spotted the new Meta AI widget rolling out widely to beta testers (via DigitalTrends). The app now has a dedicated 2x2 widget that can give you immediate access to the AI search field, camera for image search, and voice for audio prompts. Now with immediate access to more options AI may not be the most useful bit in a chat app, though Source: WABetaInfo Unlike previous iterations of this widget, WhatsApp now includes more AI tools you can access through the widget. However, you should remember Meta is merely offering this as an accessory service, and there are an assortment of purpose-built AI apps for Android that can deliver better or more specific results depending on your requirements. Given the limited user interest in AI accessories on a chat app, we wish WhatsApp and its devs focus on catching up with Telegram and offering feature parity across operating systems instead. That said, the new AI widget design is still in beta. Development seems to be progressing rapidly, so we should see this in an upcoming stable version soon, considering it is already available widely on the beta channel.

WhatsApp just made its AI impossible to avoid - but at least you can turn it off

Meta's new widget brings instant access to AI-powered chats, but not everyone is on board. Meta rushed to embed its Meta AI assistant into all of its properties, including WhatsApp. Now, it seems like the tech giant is extending the strategy with a dedicated widget, as first discovered byWABetaInfo. This comes after WhatsApp expanded Meta AI from a floating action button to a search bar integration and then the in-chat tag that lets you add it to the group chat. The widget will give you one-tap access to its text search, camera for image-based queries, and voice input for hands-free interactions. Whether this is useful or just another thing cluttering your home screen depends on how much you actually want an AI assistant embedded in your messaging app. The idea is that instead of switching to ChatGPT or Perplexity, you can pull up Meta AI within WhatsApp and fire off a question without having to open the app first, as it's right from a widget. Whether that's convenient or annoying probably depends on your disposition. There have been complaints about Meta AI being too intrusive, so making it more deeply integrated is a questionable decision by Meta. Whether this addition is useful or just another AI experiment in search of a problem will likely depend on how much you really need to talk to Meta AI. Luckily, if you fall into the "no thanks" camp, you can disable it entirely by going into Settings > Chats and toggling off the Meta AI button. At least for now, opting out is still an option. As Meta is betting big on AI integration, WhatsApp is a prime target simply because of its massive user base. If even a fraction of its billions of users start casually using Meta AI, that's a win for Meta in the battle for AI dominance. But if users keep disabling the feature or ignoring it entirely, it might just be another forgotten experiment, like Facebook's attempt at making the Metaverse a thing.