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12th Aug 2022

You can now choose who can and can’t see you’re online on WhatsApp

Rory Cashin

These new additions will be very much appreciated by WhatsApp users.

Mark Zuckerberg announced today (Tuesday, 9 August) that WhatsApp is bringing in three new privacy features that will allow users to add extra layers of protection to their conversations.

The three new features are as follows:

Leave Groups Silently: If you’re in a WhatsApp group that you no longer want to be a part of, but don’t want to make a big fuss and announcement about leaving, then this new feature will only inform the admin of the groups that you have left. This new feature will begin rolling out to users by the end of August.

Choose Who Can See When You’re Online: While it can be a good feature to see who is online at any moment, and also to allow others to see that you’re online, sometimes we all just want to have a little browse of the app without everyone online knowing about it. So this feature will keep your online presence private, and will allow users to choose who can and can’t see when they’re online. This feature will begin rolling out to users by the end of August.

Blocking Screenshots of View-Once Messages: Users will already have access to View-Once Messaging on WhatsApp, allowing you to share messages and images without leaving a digital record. This new feature, which is currently being tested and shall begin rolling out to all users soon, will allow users to block anyone from grabbing a screenshot of these expiring messages.

On the new settings, Zuckerberg said:

New privacy features coming to WhatsApp: exit group chats without notifying everyone, control who can see when you’re online, and prevent screenshots on view once messages. We’ll keep building new ways to protect your messages and keep them as private and secure as face-to-face conversations.”