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If you love messaging on WhatsApp there's a big free upgrade on its way to your smartphone. The Meta-owned service has just announced a number of changes that should all make chatting on the popular app a bit more fun. There are a total of four big updates in this release including new camera effects and filters, the ability to share sticker packs with friends and faster ways to react to messages landing in your inbox.

There are even new selfie stickers which let you turn a photo of your face into an instant sticker that can be added to your chats. says the new features will be rolling out from today on both and Android so make sure you app is up to date or you may miss out.

Here are full details about what's new in this latest WhatsApp release.

Camera effects: Fans loved the effects WhatsApp launched on video calls last year. Now, when you take and send a video or photo in your chats, you can choose from the same 30 backgrounds, filters and effects to transform your shots.

Selfie stickers: Enjoy custom stickers? Now you can turn your selfie straight into a sticker. Just tap the create sticker icon and you’ll see the camera option to take a selfie and create your sticker. Available on Android and coming to iOS soon.

Share a sticker pack: Spotted a sticker pack you know your friend will love? Now, you can easily share them directly in your chats.

Quicker reactions: Thanks to this update you can double tap a message to react and quickly scroll through your most-used reactions.

News of this major update comes as and told to watch out for the infamous "Friends and Family" scam. The UK security team at Action Fraud have posted a message telling WhatsApp fans to be alert and report anything suspicious.

"If a family member or friend makes an unusual request on WhatsApp, always call the person outside of WhatsApp to confirm their identity," Action Fraud said in a post on X.

"Report spam messages or block a sender within WhatsApp. Press and hold on the message bubble, select ‘Report’ and then follow the instructions.

If you lost money as a result of the scam message, please report it to Action Fraud."