Users of iOS have more reasons to smile these days as WhatsApp has been upgraded with a host of new features.

What's more, these features seem to be exclusive to iOS devices although some of them were installed in the Android version, reported IBN Live.

Here are 10 of these new WhatsApp features which are available for iOS 2.12.5:

1. Chats can be marked as read or unread. With a swipe to the right, you can mark your messages as read or unread. This can be helpful especially when you are in the middle of a class or meeting and not be able to reply immediately to messages.

2. Individual chats can be muted. Before, you could only mute group conversation. With this new feature, you can now mute individual conversations and customize chat notifications.

3. Videos can be backed up. Just go to Settings > Chats and Calls > Chat Backup to include videos in your chat backups.

4. Share you location. Letting your friends know exactly where you are has never been this easy, as you can now inform them of the café or mall you are lounging in directly from Apple Maps to WhatsApp.

5. Older messages will be automatically loaded. In the earlier WhattsApp version, you had to choose the option to load earlier messages within a conversation. Now, all you have to do is to keep on scrolling and the messages will load instantly.

6. Cheaper costs on data usage. Available on the Android version, this WhatsApp feature for iOS allows you to make Internet calls from the app at lower costs.

7. Show preview has been disabled. Users no longer have to look behind their backs, as they can now enjoy a more secure and private messaging experience.

8. Cropping for photos and videos. The photo and video cropping feature has been redesigned with an added feature: It now lets you rotate an image in different angles.

9. Sharing of contacts. With the latest WhatsApp version, you can now share contacts from your Contacts App to WhatsApp.

10. Voice Over Has Better Support. In the new WhatsApp for iOS, the gesture-based screen reading feature for iOS has been enhanced.

Meanwhile, another cool feature has been added by Google to WhatsApp which allows users to send messages by dictating them through Google Now, according to Tech Times.

Aside from WhatsApp, other messaging services that are using Google Now's dictation feature include WeChat, Viber, Telegram and NextPlus.

With these exciting new WhatsApp features for iOS, users are expected be glued to their handsets 24/7.