Long-awaited ‘online status’ update finally coming to WhatsApp

WhatsApp holding company, Meta, this week announced an upgrade to the chat service’s privacy features, including group and online status updates.

Picture this: You’ve had a hectic day at work, the queue at your local Checkers was too long, and you probably drove into a pothole on your way home as well.

You open your phone and are greeted with the WhatsApp notification bubble and you just know the second you go online to check your message, your mom/sister/aunt is going to call because they can see you are online.

WhatsApp updates coming in August

‘Text anxiety’ a thing of the past

So, you might have deactivated the ‘last seen online’ counter, but WhatsApp still shows your online status to whoever wants to see it.

And with notifications pouring in from every app and service imaginable, the ‘big notification overwhelm’ is not reserved for the neurodivergent among us anymore.

With that in mind, Meta is introducing “new privacy features to provide interlocking layers of protection and give you more control over your messages”.

Choose who can see when you’re online

It will be easier than ever to keep your online presence private.

Even though Meta acknowledges that some people feel connected to their loved ones when seeing them online, there are just times when you want to check your WhatsApp privately.

Users will soon have the ability to select who can see when they’re online. This feature will begin to roll out to users in August.

Leave Groups on the sly

Another long-awaited feature is the ability to leave Group chats on the sly. It could, at times, feel like a serious privacy violation to announce your departure publically to all group members.

Especially if it’s a family or work-related WhatsApp group. Therefore, Meta said they are “making it possible to exit a group privately without making it a big deal to everyone”.

“Instead of notifying the full group when you are leaving, only the admins will be notified. This feature will start to roll out to all users this month.”

Your privacy deserves more protection.

That's why we're excited to announce three 🆕 layers of security to wrap your messages in.

Learn what they do 👇 pic.twitter.com/AmV0YoZcC8

— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) August 9, 2022

Screenshot blocking for restricted messages

Lastly, Meta said they will be enabling a ‘screenshot blocking’ mode for View Once messages – to ensure extra layer of protection and additional peace of mind.

View Once is already an incredibly popular way to share photos or media that don’t need to have a permanent digital record.

“We’re testing this feature now”.

This feature will be rolled out to all users in due course, once the beta testing phase is complete.