diff --git a/_locales/en/messages.json b/_locales/en/messages.json
index cb3c6445a2..be5e9f1e7c 100644
--- a/_locales/en/messages.json
+++ b/_locales/en/messages.json
@@ -6298,5 +6298,17 @@
   "WhatsNew__v5.15--5": {
     "message": "Squashed lots of bugs and there are some performance improvements as well. Thank you all for your reports!",
     "description": "Release notes for v5.15"
+  },
+  "WhatsNew__v5.16--1": {
+    "message": "An improved media lightbox means no surprises as you progress through a gallery of images or videos, and you can pretend you’re really in a dark room by zooming to hide those pesky buttons.",
+    "description": "Release notes for v5.16"
+  },
+  "WhatsNew__v5.16--2": {
+    "message": "Fixed a bug where reacting to a message was tricky, because we put the picker off screen. That's now fixed, and you can 😮 to your ❤️'s content.",
+    "description": "Release notes for v5.16"
+  },
+  "WhatsNew__v5.16--3": {
+    "message": "If you hover over the buttons while on a call, they stay visible instead of disappearing. Nothing hides from your eagle eye, not even these buttons!",
+    "description": "Release notes for v5.16"
   }
 }
diff --git a/ts/components/WhatsNew.tsx b/ts/components/WhatsNew.tsx
index 2005b916dc..d078275584 100644
--- a/ts/components/WhatsNew.tsx
+++ b/ts/components/WhatsNew.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import moment from 'moment';
 
 import { Modal } from './Modal';
 import { Intl } from './Intl';
+import { Emojify } from './conversation/Emojify';
 import { LocalizerType } from '../types/Util';
 
 export type PropsType = {
@@ -25,14 +26,12 @@ export const WhatsNew = ({ i18n }: PropsType): JSX.Element => {
 
   const viewReleaseNotes = () => {
     setReleaseNotes({
-      date: new Date('08/17/2021'),
+      date: new Date('08/26/2021'),
       version: window.getVersion(),
       features: [
-        'WhatsNew__v5.15--1',
-        'WhatsNew__v5.15--2',
-        'WhatsNew__v5.15--3',
-        'WhatsNew__v5.15--4',
-        'WhatsNew__v5.15--5',
+        'WhatsNew__v5.16--1',
+        'WhatsNew__v5.16--2',
+        'WhatsNew__v5.16--3',
       ],
     });
   };
@@ -54,7 +53,13 @@ export const WhatsNew = ({ i18n }: PropsType): JSX.Element => {
             <ul>
               {releaseNotes.features.map(featureKey => (
                 <li key={featureKey}>
-                  <Intl i18n={i18n} id={featureKey} />
+                  <Intl
+                    i18n={i18n}
+                    id={featureKey}
+                    renderText={({ key, text }) => (
+                      <Emojify key={key} text={text} />
+                    )}
+                  />
                 </li>
               ))}
             </ul>