WhatsApp updates group privacy settings, brings 'nobody' feature

Aiming to curb the spread of misinformation spread through the platform particularly from group chats, instant messaging platform WhatsApp in a new update has rolled out privacy settings designed for users in India.

Indian users can now choose who can add them to a group. The app now offers the option to choose 'nobody'. This feature is being rolled out to global users on both Android and iOS too. It has also been reported that WhatsApp is remotely activating the feature in iOS beta 2.19.110.20 and Android beta 2.19.298.

According to a report by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp has also introduced a new blacklist option under the privacy settings. Now, besides Everyone and My Contacts, there is also a third option -- 'My Contacts Except' which will let you select the users who first are required to gain permission from you before adding you to a group.

Also, if you add a new contact and you want them in the blacklist, you have to do it manually. Additionally, WhatsApp has also brought a consecutive voice note playback feature to its web version. Now, if you have received multiple voice messages on a chat, with the new playback feature, you just have to play and the rest of voice chats will be played automatically one after the other. Keep in mind, that this consecutive playback won’t work if the series of voice notes you get are interrupted by other messages or media files.

If you don’t know, WhatsApp will no longer be supported by phone running Android version 2.3.7 or iPhones that are running on iOS 8 or older versions. If you are using any of these versions on either Android or iOS, we recommend you to upgrade your devices to a newer version as WhatsApp will not work on these phones starting February 1, 2020.

Additionally, WhatsApp will also stop working on all Windows phone operating systems starting from December 31, 2019.