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Xi to Make First U.S. State Visit Since Obama Era; Trade Truce and AI on AgendaWhatsApp Expands Apple Watch Emoji Reactions to the Full watchOS Emoji SetAWS Strands Agents Team Releases Open-Source Strands Harness, Claims 28% Lower Token Cost at Comparable AccuracyiOS 27.2 beta 2 code points to continued work on Apple's unannounced iPhone anti-snatching featureGlobal AI Glasses Shipments Jump 263% in First Half of 2026 as Meta Tightens GripKRICT adds graphitic carbon nitride to lithium-ion cathodes, lifting power delivery in early tests
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WhatsApp Expands Apple Watch Emoji Reactions to the Full watchOS Emoji Set

WhatsApp is rolling out support for the full watchOS emoji library in Apple Watch reactions, letting users pick from eight categories instead of six presets, according to WABetaInfo.

AI News Feed · 2026-09-22 08:09

The change removes a limitation that had accompanied the Apple Watch app since its arrival. Long-pressing a message still brings up the same six default reactions as before, but users can now open a larger picker that displays recently used emojis at the top alongside the full system emoji library, organized into eight categories: Smileys, Nature, Food, Activity, Travel, Objects, Symbols and Flags. Selecting any category expands its list, and users can scroll through the categories to locate the emoji they want to use as a reaction.

WABetaInfo reported the feature and noted that, although it is now officially rolling out, it may take several weeks before it reaches all users, given WhatsApp's practice of distributing updates gradually.

The expanded picker builds on WhatsApp's broader push onto the Apple Watch. Late last year the company released a full-featured watchOS app with support for call notifications, voice messages, chat history and emoji reactions. Before that launch, WhatsApp's presence on the platform had been minimal, with users relying almost entirely on system notifications to read and reply to messages. The initial reaction feature was itself restricted to six preset emojis, and using anything outside that set required picking up an iPhone.