New WhatsApp privacy features will make it easier to ghost your friends and family
You'll soon be able to hide your online status and leave group chats without alerting everyone
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny
🔏 WhatsApp is introducing new privacy features that give users more control
👻 You’ll soon be able to use the app without being visible online
🙈 You can also hide your online status from specific contacts
🤫 Leaving groups won’t notify everyone
💥 A new “view once” message that disappears after being opened is also being tested
WhatsApp is getting a host of new privacy features that give users more control over how visible they’d like to be when using the app.
You’ll soon be able to hide your ‘Last seen’ and online status and leave group chats silently without notifying the whole chat. The messaging app is also testing a new “view once” message that disappears after being opened a single time, and Meta hopes to get this feature out to users “soon”
The new privacy features will roll out this month and will be highlighted as part of a global campaign. In a Facebook post, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the updates would help keep WhatsApp “as private and secure as face-to-face conversations.”
Being able to hide your online status is a welcomed feature, particularly if you don’t want a particular user to know you’re on WhatsApp. The app’s “last seen online” feature has a habit of exposing those who stayed up way past their bedtime or if someone logged in but didn’t reply to your message.
The app automatically blocks your online status from strangers by default but giving users more granular control of their online activity is another step in the right direction.
Leaving group chats silently is also another quality of life update users are bound to enjoy. Currently, whenever you leave a group chat, WhatsApp will alert the entire chat that you’re bailing on the conversation. Group admins will still be alerted, but it should make leaving group chats less awkward.
The change to group chats will roll out to the mobile and desktop versions of WhatsApp, so you can duck out on either platform.