WhatsApp rolls out birthday reminders and new smartwatch, iPhone, and channel features

WhatsApp is testing a birthday reminder feature that will display upcoming birthdays in a dedicated section and send a notification on the day, using birth‑date data already stored in the phone’s address book. No additional privacy settings are required; users control reminders by saving or removing dates from their contacts.

The update also adds several other functions: Wear OS users can mark conversations as read or unread and pin or mute chats directly from their smartwatch. On iPhone, the group‑info screen is reorganised into three tabs for easier navigation. WhatsApp will now send notifications when a message is pinned in a chat, except for muted conversations. Channel administrators can pin important posts at the top of a channel for up to 30 days, and a new label will identify paid partnership content in channels.

These changes are part of a broader set of enhancements being trialled across Android and iOS versions of the app.