WhatsApp

WhatsApp has pretty much become one of the best messaging app boastings of millions of subscribers registered on from all parts of the world. The messaging app has made its mark into the social networking world as most persons prefer to hit themselves up on the platform especially with the integrated calling feature which makes the instant messaging experience more of a reality setting.

‘I’ll WhatsApp you’ has now become a thing accepted in the lingua of both old and young based on the popularity of the instant messaging application which is available on all platforms and in all regions. However, with the widespread use of the application, it has evolved from what it used to be with several features added on to the instant messenger which has come a long way in easing communication and bridging the gap in communication.

This article seeks to expose some of the hidden features of the instant messaging application which is on your phone and has served the sole purpose of connecting you with friends and foes.

With the instant messaging app which was developed by two Yahoo ex-employees and now sold to Facebook raking in as much as 42 billion messages a day and over 1.6 billion photos shared daily with number of videos pegged at over 250 million everyday, won’t it be cool to know some of the hidden features embedded in the application which has relatively redefined the face of chatting in the 21st century.

Here are some of the features integrated into the chatting application;

Disable Read Receipts

WhatsApp was all fun and games back then till developers released an update which gives the blue tick to indicate that your message(s) have been read. On an honest plane, this particular feature must have putt several persons in trouble as they may have mistakenly opened a chat they didn’t want to and guess what? The person on the other end of the line already knows you saw his/her message, so what’s your excuse now?

To save yourself from the embarrassment and mess created from this update, the developers of the application came up with an option which allows you to turn off the read receipts.

To toggle your read receipt on/off, access the Settings panel on your application and click on the Account option to access the Privacy Option.

Toggle the Read Receipt on or off.

‘Last Seen’ timestamp

The ‘Last Seen’ timestamp could be a pain most times especially when you wish to keep your online experience away from some select people or an individual. The option allows someone else who has the time stamp option ‘On’ to see when the last time you accessed the application was. To toggle this option off and keep your online privacy to yourself, go to the Setting tab then access the Account option on which you click on the Privacy Option.

From this tab, you can choose to keep your last seen timestamp off, on or visible to selected persons.

To keep the last seen timestamp visible to select people, click on the My Contacts option which allows only individuals on your contact see your status.

Conversation Backup and Restore

Having a problem with your application which requires you to delete and re-install the app could be a significant pain especially when you just received important details which you seem not to be able to retrieve after restoring the application. It is with this in mind that the application comes with a conversation backup and restore feature which allows you choose a certain memory compartment, be it the microSD card or the device storage to save transcripts of your conversation for immediate or future restoration.

To access the WhatsApp Backup and Restore feature, go to the Setting menu and click on Chats, then proceed to click on Chat Backup then click on the Backup Now option. To restore your chat on a new device or should your application require you to delete or memory wipe, WhatsApp will itself prompt you requesting whether to restore previously saved chat backup or not.

Save Conversations

This is a cool feature which allows you save conversation with individuals or a group as a text file. This could come in handy as a security measure or at the same time to keep the memory of what has been written fresh in whatever compartment you deem fit.  To access this feature on your WhatsApp, open the chat for the individual or the group chat and click on the Menu Button. From there on, tap on the More option which in turn gives more option. From the drop-down list of options, access the Email Chat option from where you can choose whether to Attach Media or not.

Contact Blocking

This is one of the most amazing securities, and privacy option featured on WhatsApp as the application allows you to block off the annoying people who do not understand a proper social construct of not pestering other individuals with their online presence. With this feature, you can rest assured that its ‘Good riddance to bad rubbish.’

To access this feature, open the conversation page with the person you wish to block off, tap on the header of the chat where the individual’s name or number is located then proceed to access the menu which gives a list of options including the ‘Block this Contact’ option.

Mute Chats

This is especially useful for chats which have and add no real time value to your life but keeps bugging and buzzing you in the middle of a serious meeting or test. This option allows you to silence notification from a particular group or individual while keeping your phone out of the ‘silent’ or no notification sound profile.

Here’s how to achieve this and find a lasting solution to the ever busy group you were added on to; On an Android smartphone, access the group chat and tap on the subject or group icon which gives the information screen about the group, from here tap on the ‘Mute’ option which allows you to choose a time frame as much as one year, depending on how annoying the group can be.

On an iPhone device, open the group chat and click on the group icon or group subject to access the group information page from where you tap the Mute option and also choose the time frame for which you prefer to receive no notification from the particular group for.