WhatsApp will finally allow its users to format text while messaging. An update to the app now lets people use italics, bold or strikethrough options on their text by using a few key commands.

To make text bold, users will have to add an asterisk (*) before and after the word(s), and to italicise, they will need to type an underscore (_) before and after. To use a strikethrough, one will have to insert a tilde (~) before and after the words. If they're really feeling creative, users can use all three commands together. This is a standard system of changing text format that users of Google's Hangouts or Gtalk services will be familiar with.

Those downloading WhatsApp now will automatically get version 2.12.17 for iOS and 2.12.535 for Android and can start using the new features. Others might have to manually update their apps. WhatsApp recently introduced a feature that allows people to share documents on the messaging app, using cloud services such as Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive.