WhatsApp is a great instant messaging app that is updated regularly to improve its features and to patch security bugs. Most times we are always used to our previous version of WhatsApp that we become so unaware of the newly added features that follow each update.
Just recently, WhatsApp has decreased message forwarding limit from 5 to 1; this is to help in their quest to curtail the easiness of spreading false information.
Also, a few days ago, they have also made the move to increase the number of people that can be part of WhatsApp video group calls from 4 to 8.
In this post, we are going to look at some long-existing changes that you may not have thought of using.
They are;
Voice Note Recording Lock
Voice note recording is one feature that had been part of WhatsApp for a very long time now. How accurate we use this feature shows how well we are following the updates around it.
If your usual way of recording voice notes on WhatsApp is still the old method of pressing and holding the microphone icon while talking, then you have not noticed some added feature on voice note recording.
WhatsApp long ago included the lock feature for voice note. This helps you to keep recording without placing your finger on the microphone icon and send or cancel the recordings once you are done.
The usual hold while you talk is prone to mistake; which might lead to one trying to delete a message after it might have been sent.
For you to utilize the lock feature; simply slide the microphone icon up towards the key icon you see at the top of the mic icon once you press and hold it.
Then you have locked the recording and this will keep the recording going until you are done talking. Now, you can either delete the recording by press the cancel button or send it by pressing the green send arrow.
Group Privacy Settings
Nothing is more annoying than waking up one morning to see a bunch of unsolicited messages coming from a Whatsapp group your friend added you without your consent.
If you detest being added to a group without your consent; WhatsApp had long included a group privacy setting that can help you prevent that.
This setting in older WhatsApp versions was simpler. In the older version, you can allow or block everyone from adding you to a group without your consent. But in recent versions; you have only three options settings to decide who can add you to a group without your consent or not.
The options are; everyone, my Contacts and My contacts except. This implies that if you chose everyone option; then people you do not know will have the power to add you to a group. But if you chose My contacts, then only people on your contact list can do so. My contacts except option help you by excluding people on your contact from being able to add you to a group. This last option helps disable all from being able to add you to a group without your consent.
Private Reply from a Group
There are times you might like to send a private message to someone you saw on a group with regards to a post they made on the group.
In order to keep track of the message you are replying to; this is to avoid long explanations when you get to the person’s inbox, this feature will be of great help.
What this does is that It will help you to reply directly to the person inbox with the message you are replying to showing and the group name and your own reply message. This will enable the person to understand where you are coming from without many questions.
To use this feature, you should touch and hold the message you want to send a direct reply to the sender on the group until it is highlighted. Then tap the three vertical menu dots at the top right of your app. Now select Reply privately.
Once you select it; you will be directed to the person’s inbox with the message and the group name showing waiting for you to type your own message.
This will save you the long list of explanation you should have made before dropping the message.
Chat Font Size
This feature is for those that find it difficult to read tiny texts. The default settings for WhatsApp’s chat font is always medium. So, you can reduce it to small or large depending on your situation.
To change your font size, you should select the three vertical dots menu at the top right. Then select Settings. On the settings list, select Chats. Under Chat settings group, select font size and chose the option you want. Then click the back arrow and enjoy your new setting.
Font Formatting and Message translation
This feature is for those that send long post on WhatsApp through broadcast or group chats. You might decide to make some texts bold like the headings, or some italics just to give emphasis or also do strikethrough or even translate your message to another language.
To add any of the above effects on your chats as you type them, simply highlight the texts or sentences you wish to add the effects on by touching and holding on it. To select a wide range of text, you should expand the selection area yourself.
Then select any of the formatting options you want as it appears on the top of your selection. To see more options, select the three vertical dots. From there you can translate your text to another language or share them to another platform before sending them.
This feature will save you the stress of learning the special characters used in achieving some of the formatting options, like enclosing texts with asterisks to make it bold or the underscore to make it italics.
Share your own commonly used features on the comment box that you think many will not know exist.
Very awesome,I have not known all these existing features