5 WhatsApp Tips and Tricks Everyone Should Know
For most of us, WhatsApp has become the default go-to messenger. WhatsApp has over a billion downloads on Google Play alone, the only other messenger to boast that is Facebook Messenger. The app has made itself indispensable by adding a browser version and voice calling to its platform.
For those who have to deal with the app on a daily basis, weve lined up some interesting tricks and tweaks that will improve your user-experience.
1. Mute group chats and notifications
Group chat notifications can get noisy, theyre best turned off when you have to focus on a task at hand.
On Android
On a group chat, tap the Menu button, and hit Mute. Then, choose the time-frame for which you would like the group to be muted. You can also disable notifications for the specified period. This feature is now available on the web browser too.
On iPhone
Open Group Chat, tap the group subject to reveal the Group Info screen, and tapMute. Now, select how long youd like notifications to be muted.
2. Find out who has read your message in a WhatsApp group
Read receipts, marked by two blue ticks indicate that the recipient has read your message. Find out who has read your message on group chats.
On Android
Do a long press on a message sent by you. This reveals an i with a circle around it. Tapping on it will show you who the message was delivered to, and read by.
On iPhone
See the Message Info screen by opening a chat with a contact or a group, then swiping your message from the left to right to see delivery and read notifications.
3. Disable media to save on cellular bandwidth
WhatsApp lets you specify what you would like downloaded on mobile data and when connected to Wi-Fi.
On Android
Go to Settings, Chat Settings, Media Auto-Download to specify when you want images, audio and videos to be downloaded to your phone.
On iPhone
Go to WhatsApp Settings Chat Settings Media Auto-Download.
4. Change profile photo, status message from the desktop
This new feature recently added to WhatsApp Web lets you tap on your avatar on the left hand corner, to change your profile photo with a laptop camera or webcam, or a photo on your drive. The feature also works with groups that you are an admin of.
5. Disable Last Seen and Read Receipts aka blue ticks
By default, WhatsApp lets everyone know the last time you used the app. Your last seen timestamp, profile photo and status message can be toggled between Everyone, My contacts, and Nobody in Settings Account Privacy on both iPhone and Android.
Read Receipts, notified by those Blue Ticks can seem too obsessive and creepy. You can disable them too, but that also means you wont be able to see read receipts from other people.
