{"id":140069,"date":"2019-05-28T21:05:43","date_gmt":"2019-05-28T19:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=140069"},"modified":"2025-07-01T21:53:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T04:53:03","slug":"whatsapp-groups-broadcast-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/whatsapp-groups-broadcast-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the difference between WhatsApp groups and WhatsApp broadcast?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-140073\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/04\/WhatsApp_broadcast_a3papj.jpg\" alt=\"What is whatsapp broadcast?\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Everybody knows about WhatsApp groups chats. We\u2019re willing to bet that everybody is a member of at least one WhatsApp group. Broadcast, however, is much more mysterious and less well-known than the ubiquitous group chat. It is funny really because both offer ways for WhatsApp users to message more than one user at a time and both are useful in their own right and in certain situations. Let\u2019s have a good look then at the main differences between WhatsApp groups and WhatsApp broadcast.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"WhatsApp Messenger\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_optimized,f_auto\/p\/6b5a0468-96d1-11e6-bfc6-00163ec9f5fa\/1398466786\/whatsapp-messenger-logo.png\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">WhatsApp Messenger<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/whatsapp.en.softonic.com\/android\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download Now \u25ba<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--80\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"80\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"8\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\">8<\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/whatsapp.en.softonic.com\/android\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<h2>WhatsApp groups vs WhatsApp broadcast<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-140071\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/04\/WhatsApp_new_group_screenshot_qnxg9r.jpg\" alt=\"How to create a WhatsApp group\" width=\"350\" height=\"159\" \/><\/p>\n<p>WhatsApp groups allow you to set up multi-directional chat rooms with your friends and family. Once people have been added to the group, they can send a group message and all other members of the group will receive it. They\u2019ll also receive every message sent to the group by other group members.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_140072\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-140072\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-140072\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/04\/WhatsApp_group_chat_user_tagging_p7glcn.jpg\" alt=\"Whats~App user tag\" width=\"350\" height=\"91\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-140072\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">You can tag users in group chats to grab their attention, but the rest of the group will still be able to see the message<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There are a number of <a href=\"https:\/\/wabetainfo.com\/whatsapp-to-improve-the-user-experience-in-groups\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WhatsApp group features<\/a> like <a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/whatsapp-will-soon-notify-you-when-youre-mentioned-in-a-group-chat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">user tagging<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/whatsapp-reply-privately\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Reply privately<\/a> that allow you to aim messages at certain members of the group, but as long as you send a message to a WhatsApp group every member of the group will get to read it. Reply privately actually sends a message to the individual user you\u2019re replying to, opening up in their chat with a quoted reply taken from the group.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-140075 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/04\/WhatsApp_Reply_privately_cy3hxi.jpg\" alt=\"WhatsApp private reply\" width=\"256\" height=\"339\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/faq.whatsapp.com\/en\/iphone\/23782313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WhatsApp broadcast<\/a> also allows you to send messages to lots of people at once, just in a different way to WhatsApp groups. You create a broadcast list in much the same way to create a group, too. You open WhatsApp and then click the more settings icon in the top-right. Once you\u2019ve done that, you select all the members you want to add to the list and a chat window will pop up just like it does with a group chat. That&#8217;s where the similarities stop.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-140076 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/04\/WhatsApp_new_broadcast_screenshot_gyftqu.jpg\" alt=\"New WhatsApp boradcast\" width=\"350\" height=\"219\" \/><\/p>\n<p>When you send a message to a broadcast list, it will appear to everybody who receives it as a normal chat would. They\u2019ll receive a message from you, and it\u2019ll appear in your normal chat window underneath the last messages that you sent to each other. When a user replies to a message you\u2019ve broadcast, you\u2019ll see the reply in much the same way, in your regular chat window beneath your broadcast.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-140070\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/04\/WhatsAppp_broadcast_list_gwt3um.jpg\" alt=\"You can only broadcast to WhatsApp users who have your phone number saved in their phonebeook\" width=\"350\" height=\"89\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The other big difference between WhatsApp groups and WhatsApp broadcast is that you can only broadcast messages to contacts who have your phone number saved in their phone book. If they don\u2019t have your number saved, they won\u2019t receive any broadcasts from you. Also, unlike with a group chat, you can\u2019t create a broadcast list from <a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/5-tricks-for-whatsapp-on-pc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WhatsApp Web<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>When to use WhatsApp groups and when to use WhatsApp broadcast<\/h3>\n<p>WhatsApp group chats are great ways to keep groups of friends and coworkers talking to each other, even if they\u2019re separated by great distances. They\u2019re also good for arranging social events and managing complex tasks across teams.<\/p>\n<p>WhatsApp broadcast, however, is more about <strong>one-way communication.<\/strong> The admin who creates the broadcast list is the only person who can talk to everybody on it at once. This makes WhatsApp broadcast lists excellent tools for sending out important messages and alerts, like a birthday invitation or a prompt to ensure your tax information is up to date on your employee records.<\/p>\n<p>The key factor with WhatsApp broadcasts is the <strong>private nature of responses.<\/strong> Once the original information has been sent out, all subsequent communication remains between the admin and the individual user. This also means that everybody\u2019s inbox remains clutter free and safe from everybody else\u2019s annoying messages.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-related-articles-white\">\r\n<p class=\"sc-related-articles-white__title\">More from Softonic<\/p>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"Tips to master WhatsApp\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/tips-to-master-whatsapp-in-2018\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2017\/06\/whatsapp.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>Tips to master WhatsApp<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    <a title=\"5 Tips to boost your WhatsApp security\" 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<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are the differences and similarities between WhatsApp&#8217;s two major multi-message sending tools?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9073,"featured_media":140074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":1},"categories":[2518,2441],"tags":[2333,1040,1043],"usertag":[790],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-140069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides","category-how-to","tag-app-subdomain-redirectionwhatsapp","tag-messaging-apps","tag-whatsapp","usertag-whatsapp"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9073"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":325969,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140069\/revisions\/325969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140069"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=140069"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=140069"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=140069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}