October 10, 2025, 12:43 pm | Read time: 2 minutes
Emojis are an important part of communication on WhatsApp. Each year, new mini-pictograms approved by the Unicode Consortium are added. Until now, they were limited to text chats only. Now, WhatsApp is enabling the emoji feature for video calls as well.
As early as March 2025, Android Authority found two new features for video calls in a beta version of the messenger: a selection of emojis and a “raise hand” option. The latter has been available for some time. But only now does it seem that WhatsApp is rolling out emoji reactions for all users.
New Emoji Feature Launches
This is at least suggested by a new section in the WhatsApp help area on “Making Video Calls”. It describes how users can “set reactions”—meaning emojis. During a video call, reactions can be accessed via the menu icon (three dots). The emoji selection set by WhatsApp is found at the top of the menu under the “End-to-End Encrypted” label.
The reactions work essentially the same as in text chats: After clicking, the chosen emoji appears as an overlay above the video call. To change the reaction, you must tap the emoji again to remove it and select another. Choosing multiple reactions simultaneously is not possible, just like in text chats.
Video Emojis Not Yet Widely Available
TECHBOOK has not yet been able to test the new reactions in video calls. The options have not appeared in calls from iPhone to iPhone or from Android smartphone to iPhone. However, the fact that the emoji feature appears in the WhatsApp help area is a good indicator that it will soon be available to all users.
Curiously, WhatsApp does not seem to be launching the video reactions in the U.S. first. The corresponding section has not yet been found on the U.S. support page. However, it is present on the German, Spanish, Italian, and other language counterparts.