The News, Explained
Kakao announced message formatting, Open Chat badge settings and other KakaoTalk updates on October 21, 2026. The new features require v26.9.0 or later. Its KakaoTalk Now page also gained a feedback channel. Source
Choosing emphasis and new-message counts
Users can select characters or phrases in the message input and apply bold, italics, strikethrough or lists. For a hypothetical gathering announcement, a sender could emphasize the date and list items to bring. Source
Badges display new-message counts. Turning off the new-message badge display in an Open Chat room’s settings prevents that room’s incoming messages from increasing the numbers on the app icon and bottom tab. Source
The Mini Emoticon combination tab lets users browse combinations and send them directly to a chat. Phones can also be registered as sub-devices, extending support for devices used alongside the main one. Source
Connecting feedback with improvements
KakaoTalk Now, opened in August, now accepts feedback through a bottom input field and presents improvements informed by users. Kakao plans to continue sharing its improvement process and results; the announcement links to the official page. It lists friend-list folding and folder notification settings among earlier improvements. Source
OYOPICK’s Take
These changes give people more specific choices about attention. A sender can organize information with formatting; a recipient can choose whether an Open Chat room contributes to the app’s visible count. In a busy messaging environment, that small degree of control could help people adapt the app to their own priorities.
The feedback channel could become more useful when suggestions and subsequent changes are connected clearly. Showing which difficulty informed a feature would help users understand both the purpose of an update and the reason to contribute feedback. We hope the new input field and improvement examples develop into a sustained record of that conversation.