WhatsApp allows hiding online status, announces launch of Communities
It’s common for us to wish to check our WhatsApp privately without letting our contacts know.
While earlier users were able to only hide their ‘last seen’ status, the popular messaging platform, is now allowing you to hide your ‘online’ indicator or choose whom you want to share the status with.
You can either completely hide the last seen online status from everyone, only unknown numbers, specific contacts, or from nobody. The feature will add a new ‘who can see when I’m online’ option under the last seen settings, with two options – ‘everyone’ and ‘same as last seen.’
The following steps will help you change it:
Android: Tap More options > Settings > Privacy.
iPhone: Tap Settings > Privacy.
KaiOS: Press Options > Settings > Account > Privacy.
Desktop: Click Menu > Settings > Privacy.
There you can change who can see your ‘Last seen and online’, tap on it. Select the relevant option from ‘Who can see my last seen’. Under ‘Who can see when I’m online’, tap on ‘Same as last seen’
Meanwhile, WhatsApp also launched ‘Communities’, a new feature offering larger, more structured discussion groups. This will enable people to bring together separate groups under one umbrella with a structure that works for them. That way people can receive updates sent to the entire Community and easily organise smaller discussion groups on what matters to them.
According to Meta’s Twitter handle, the company’s new feature will be available to everyone over the next few months.
Designed to help organisations, clubs, schools, and other private groups better communicate; this brings more new features like admin controls, support for sub-groups and announcement groups, 32-person voice and video calls, larger file sharing, emoji reactions, and polls.
Communities will also contain powerful new tools for admins, including announcement messages that are sent to everyone and control over which groups can be included.
