WhatsApp is a very popular mobile messaging platform. It comes with tons of cool features such as hide last seen, read receipt, and many others. we’ve already covered over 20 WhatsApp tricks that you can read from here. Today, we want to add 5 more new WhatsApp features you don’t know yet. So, without further ado, let’s get into the post.
Related: Enable WhatsApp Dark Mode On Android and iOS Devices
5 New WhatsApp Features
- Stop WhatsApp Status Timer
- WhatsApp Disappearing Message Feature
- Mute Always
- WhatsApp UPI Payment
- Inbuilt Fingerprint Lock
Stop WhatsApp Status Timer
This new WhatsApp feature helps you to pause the status view time. When you view someone’s status on WhatsApp, you’ll need to hold the status using your finger otherwise it switches to another status automatically after a few seconds. This new WhatsApp feature will let the users pause the status timer, and then it will not switch to another status automatically. To do that, simply tap on your friend’s WhatsApp status with your three fingers while it is open. Voila! Now you can remove your fingers from the status and it will remain unchanged. However, tapping one finger on the WhatsApp status again will restart the timer.
WhatsApp Disappearing Messages Feature
WhatsApp rolling out the new disappearing messages feature to all its users. When you turn this feature on, it sets a time limit on your message after that the message will get disappeared from your WhatsApp chats automatically. The same feature is offered by Snapchat, Telegram, Wire, and many other chatting apps. While other apps let you apply a custom message disappearing time, WhatsApp has a limit of 7-days only. This means all the messages from WhatsApp chats will get disappear after 7-days when you’ve switched the WhatsApp disappearing feature on.
To know more, read all the FAQs.
How to turn disappearing messages on:
- Open WhatsApp
- Choose a chat
- Tap Disappearing messages
- Tap Continue
- Then select on to turn on the feature.
How to turn disappearing messages off:
- Open WhatsApp
- Choose a chat
- Tap Disappearing messages
- Tap Continue
- Then select off to turn off the feature.
Related: How to Join WhatsApp Beta Program?
Always Mute a Person
One of the most useful WhatsApp features we’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. It is useful to prevent annoying message notifications from your WhatsApp friend without blocking him/her. Now, you can use this new WhatsApp feature to mute a person forever.
Earlier, WhatsApp had only three choices (time limits) to mute a person: 8 hours, one week, and one year. But, now WhatsApp user gets an extra option to mute a person forever along with three other options, i.e. Always mute a person.
Here’s how to mute a person on WhatsApp:
- Open WhatsApp (duh!)
- Select the person or group
- Tap on Mute icon
- Choose “Always“
How to unmute a person on WhatsApp:
- Open WhatsApp
- Select the muted person or group
- Tap on Unmute icon
WhatsApp UPI Payment
WhatsApp finally started rolling out the UPI payment system in India which was under testing since the year 2018. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has officially announced the approval to WhatsApp to roll out UPIs features in India. There are over 200 million users on WhatsApp in India alone, so it’s gonna be one of the most popular UPI platforms for sure.
You’ll get this UPI option within a chat area by clicking on the media icon. Through WhatsApp UPI, you can send or receive money with your friends from the message conversation area. To register with WhatsApp UPI, open WhatsApp, click on three dots from the top right corner then, select Payments and add a payment method, and follow the given instructions.
Inbuilt Fingerprint Lock
This is another security feature you get in WhatsApp after the two-step verification feature. WhatsApp has added a new biometric security feature, which requires user fingerprint authentication to access the WhatsApp account. A user can easily configure his/her fingerprint in WhatsApp and enable a fingerprint lock.
Here’s How to enable fingerprint lock in WhatsApp:
- Open WhatsApp
- Tap the 3-dot menu and go to Settings
- Select Account
- Then tap Privacy
- And scroll down and tap Fingerprint Lock
- Turn on unlock with fingerprint
- Touch your finger on the fingerprint sensor and configure it
How to disable fingerprint lock in WhatsApp:
- Open WhatsApp
- Tap on 3-dot menu and go to Settings
- Select Account
- Then tap Privacy
- Turn off Unlock with a fingerprint
Note: The fingerprint option is available on only Android 6.0 or above that supports Google fingerprint API.
Conclusion
We will keep you updated with new WhatsApp features. For now, you can use these 5 new WhatsApp features on your Android or iOS devices. If you’d like more related articles, you should consider subscribing to our news feed. And, also follow us on our social media platforms.
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