You know the feeling: Your friend persuaded you to join a WhatsApp group for knitters and hip-hop fans, and now you’re getting a little tired of seeing 2Pac knitting jokes. When you decide to leave the group, WhatsApp lets everyone know about your treachery. Despondent messages are pouring in. You won’t be getting that Dr. Dre sweater any time soon. You can sneak out WhatsApp groups without notifying anyone
But everything will soon change. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, stated that WhatsApp is developing a feature that will allow you to secretly exit a group. Your group leaves won’t be completely private because group admins will be informed, but it’s still better than nothing.
It won’t be the only new feature introduced soon. A feature stolen from Snapchat, the inventor of ephemeral messaging, WhatsApp will also prohibit capturing screenshots of “see once” messages. Remember that method does not always guarantee privacy because the other party can always take a picture of the phone’s display.
Finally, Zuckerberg acknowledged a feature that allowed users to mask their online status and that we had seen being tested in July. Because of this, other users won’t be able to tell when you last used the app.
According to Zuckerberg’s article, “We’ll keep developing new ways to safeguard your messages and keep them as private and secure as face-to-face chats.”