WhatsApp has been working on several India-centric features, and one of them is Group Privacy. WhatsApp is now rolling out the beta versions of the feature to Android (2.19.298) and iOS (2.19.110.20) users so that they can test it before a stable version is released for the masses. Group Privacy will help users select who can add them to groups because it has been observed that many users were added in various groups they did not want to be a part of.
If you are one of the beta testers, you can manage the Group Privacy settings opening WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy > Groups. You will see a screen similar to the one below.
If you choose:
- Everyone: Anyone can add you in a group and no invites will be received privately.
- My Contacts: The user can be added in groups from his/her contacts. In this case, a user will receive an invite to join a group from people not in his/her contacts list, privately.
- My contacts except..: This option, called Blacklist, will let a user precisely decide who cannot add him/her in a group.
Previously, when the feature was rolled out to a small group of people in India, the third option was ‘Nobody’ that barred everyone from adding you to a group without your permission. Now that the ‘Nobody’ option is gone, you can select all contacts using the Select All option to bar everyone from adding you in a group. Further, if you add new contacts in the address book, you must update the Group Privacy Settings, by selecting Select All option again to stop the new contacts to add you in a group.
Using the latest WhatsApp Web versions, you can listen voice message consecutively. ✅
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo)
In another news, WhatsApp Web has now got the support of playing voice messages consecutively. The feature was first available for iOS and then in March this year, it was rolled out for Android users.