- WhatsApp is introducing new privacy features that will roll out to users this month.
- The company announced a new update that allows users to leave group chats without notifying others.
- The update also allows WhatsApp users to choose who can see when they are online.
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WhatsApp makes it much easier to avoid the awkwardness of having to publicly exit a group chat.
The company announced a series of new features aimed at protecting user privacy in a blog post on August 9.
One of the updates allows users to leave WhatsApp group chats without notifying other members. After the update, instead of notifying the entire group when a member leaves, only admins will be notified.
Users will also be able to choose who can see when they are online.
The new update will let users select who can and can’t see when they’re online, allowing people to check WhatsApp without their friends and family knowing when they’re active on the app.
WhatsApp says these two features will roll out to all users within the month.
The blog post also included a screenshot lock update for “View Once” messages. The feature, introduced last year, already allows users to send messages and media that disappear after being viewed.
The company is now testing a feature that will allow users to block the screenshot of these temporary messages, although there is currently no set timeline for when this feature will be rolled out to users.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement shared on Facebook that the new updates were part of an effort to create “new ways to protect your messages and keep them as private and secure as your conversations on face”.
As of 2021, WhatsApp had more than 2 billion users, according to statistics website Think Impact.
The social networking app has been part of Meta since 2014, when the company acquired it for $19 billion, Insider reported.