WhatsApp will be adding three new privacy-focused features to its messaging app. These features are meant to give users more security and control over their private messages.
With the upcoming update, WhatsApp will let all users control their online presence by appearing offline to some contacts and online to others. The Meta-owned app will be providing a way to block users from taking screenshots of "view once" messages. In addition, it will also let a user leave a group chat without notifying everyone.
Here is all the information on WhatsApp’s new privacy features:
Control Online Presence
In order to provide more control over their online presence to users, WhatsApp will provide an option to hide the status from specific contacts. Apart from the usual options like everyone, my contacts, and nobody, the messaging app will have a "my contacts except" option to hide the status from certain contacts. The feature will be released to all users this month.
Prevent Screenshots on View Once Messages
As it is known, the "View Once" messages disappear only after the recipient sees them. The company is working on a feature that will block users from taking screenshots of such messages. Hence, it will block users from saving or sharing sensitive messages with others. At present, WhatsApp is currently testing this feature. This feature is expected to arrive in the near future.
Exit Group Chats Without Notifying Everyone
At present, when a user leaves a WhatsApp group, all the group members receive a notification that the person has left the group. WhatsApp's new feature for group chat will allow users to leave groups silently. After the arrival of this feature, only the group admin will know who has left the group. This feature will be rolled out this month.
Apart from these features, the company will provide users with up to two days and 12 hours to delete a sent message. Previously, this limit was around one hour.
