WhatsApp announces new features: Leave groups silently, manage online status and more

WhatsApp users will soon get three new features that will allow them to have better controls on their conversations along with an extra layer of protection. The features were announced by Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg in a Facebook post, “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.” The features have been in the works for quite some time and were spotted in several beta updates. Take a look at the new WhatsApp features announced by WhatsApp today and how they work.

Exit group chats silently

WhatsApp users will now be able to exit group chat without leaving a trace. Currently when a participant exits a group on WhatsApp, every other participant gets a prompt informing about the user who left the group. With the new feature, only the group admin will know if you leave a WhatsApp group chat. The feature will make it easier for you to leave old inactive groups without bothering other users.

Who can see your online status

Any WhatsApp user can know if you are using WhatsApp at any given moment, due to the online status that appears below the profile picture in the chat section. With the upcoming update, WhatsApp will give you the option to control the visibility of your online status. The feature will offer you multiple options to manage who can see your online status. 

Block screenshots on view once messages

WhatsApp rolled out the view once message feature last year that allows users to send a message that can only be seen once by the receiver. The feature is quite similar to Snapchat messaging, but users were still able to take a screenshot of the message, defying the purpose of the feature. With the new functionality, users won’t be able to capture a screenshots of view once messages.