WhatsApp has been working on a quick reaction feature for status updates for the past few months, and it seems that the public rollout of the feature is closer as the Meta-owned platform has started testing it on Android with beta version 2.24.17.21 of the app.
Users will see a heart-shaped “Like” button next to the “Reply” text box when viewing a status, allowing them to like that status update. And when someone reacts to your status with a “Like,” you’ll see it in the status’s viewers list, just like in Instagram Stories. WhatsApp will also let users decide whether or not they want to receive notifications for these “Like” reactions.
I like reactions to WhatsApp status updates
Another feature developed by WhatsApp focuses on user security and privacy. It will allow users to block messages from unknown accounts. When this feature is enabled, WhatsApp will automatically block messages from unknown accounts if they exceed a certain volume.
WhatsApp is working on a feature to block messages from unknown accounts
This feature is currently under development and is not even available for beta users, so it is unclear how long it will take for WhatsApp to release it publicly.
Source 1, Source 2