This is how Facebook plans to make WhatsApp more secure

NEW DELHI: Facebook-owned WhatsApp is reportedly rolling out some new features. The new features will include features like dark mode, polls in groups, Touch ID support for iPhone and the group limit of 4,096. The company will be soon rolling out the features for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone.

According to WABetaInfo, a Twitter account that tracks changes in WhatsApp’s beta builds reveals that the new features will come to iOS, Android and Windows Phone users. The Touch ID support will enable iPhone users to keep their messages safe and secure on the instant messaging app. Along with this, iPhone users will also be able to pin a message on top and add a username to their phone number.

mpany, according to a TechCrunch report, is currently running a test in which Instagram users get an option of posting their Stories directly on WhatsApp as their Status update. Although in order to have the Instagram Story posted as a WhatsApp Status, they will have to go to the app and press ‘Send.’ Unless deleted earlier, both the WhatsApp Status and Instagram Story will stay live for 24 hours. This will surely be a WhatsApp feature that Instagram lovers would like. But, there is no word on whether the feature will be rolled out to all users. Here, we have combined a list of existing features on WhatsApp that will make the instant messaging app even better for you:

Share your live location

After rolling our live location sharing on Messenger, Facebook rolled out the feature on WhatsApp too. Once you share your live location with someone, they would be able to track wherever you go for the time period you select. The three time frames that can be selected are -- 15 minutes, 1 hour and 8 hours. It is very simple to share one’s live location with their friends. Just open WhatsApp, tap on the 'Attachment' icon on the typing space bar and select ‘Location.’ Once you do this, you’ll get two options – ‘Share live location,’ and ‘Send your current location.’ Tap on the former option and select the time frame.

'Unsend' messages

Did you just send a wrong message to the wrong person on WhatsApp? You needn’t panic. There is still a way to delete it. Just select the message press ‘Delete’ on the top bar which has other options like reply, mark star, copy, forward and information. Once you press ‘Delete,’ you’ll get two options – ‘Delete for me’ and ‘Delete for everyone’. Select the second one so that the recipient cannot read the message that you mistakenly sent them. However, you only get seven minutes to delete the message after you have sent it.

Pin your chats

There are times when you want your most important chats on the top of your conversation list. Scrolling down through scores of messages to find that chat can be tedious. Not anymore. In a recent update, WhatsApp added this function. To pin a contact to the top of the list, you have to long press on the chat from that person and then press the ‘pin icon’ that appears right next to delete, mute and archive icons on the top of the page. As of now, only three contacts can be pinned to place them on top of the conversation list.

Create GIFs

WhatsApp has been supporting GIFS for a while now. But did you know that you can even create GIFS within WhatsApp and send it to your friends? However, we should point out that you can only create GIFS using videos that are saved on your smartphone. Open the WhatsApp chat of the contact whom you want to send the GIF to. Click on the attach icon > Select Gallery > Go to videos. Select the video you wish to create in a GIF from. As soon as you do this, it’ll open up in the video editing section of WhatsApp. Here, you have to adjust the length of the video to 6 seconds or less, as longer GIFS are not supported by WhatsApp. Once the video length is less than 6 seconds, the option of converting it to a GIF will appear as a slider on top right. Now all you need to do is take the slider towards GIF, and you’re set.

Editing images

When we say that you can edit images on WhatsApp before sending them, we are not talking about Snapchat filters. What you can do here is doodle on pictures, and add text and emoticons on them before sending. Select attach > Go to gallery > Select the image you wish to share. Once you do this, the image will open in WhatsApp’s photo editor. On top right, you’ll see options of adding text, emoticons and doodle. You can resize and change colours of all three once you add them to your image.

Format text

There’s a good chance you’re already aware of this feature but have never used it. Somehow, changing formats of text on WhatsApp never really caught on. We’ll tell you again how to format text on WhatsApp as it is a handy feature to use. You can bold text on WhatsApp by starting it and following it with an asterisk ‘*’. Similarly, for italics, make sure the text is preceded and followed by an underscore sign ‘_’. You can also make your text appear struck off with Strikethrough. For that precede and follow it with tilde ‘~’.

Chat in different languages

English isn’t the only language in which you can communicate on WhatsApp. You would be glad to know that WhatsApp supports a number of Indian regional languages. If you ever want to type in a different language, open WhatsApp > Go to Settings > Select Chats > Click on App Language. You can then pick the language you wish to type in.

Add conversation shortcuts

We all have a favourite friend with we are constantly yapping on WhatsApp. Rather than opening WhatsApp and going to their chat each time you want to talk to them, you can add a conversation shortcut on your home screen. Just long press on the conversation, click on three dot on top of the page and click ‘Add chat shortcut'.

Customize notifications

Did you know WhatsApp can send you customized notifications for certain contacts? It’s very simple to enable them. Open the contact you wish to customize notifications for, click on the top bar, and select ‘Custom Notifications'.

Suicide hotline numbers

Very few people are aware of this feature, but WhatsApp actually has suicide hotline numbers. Just go to Settings > Help > FAQ > Security and Privacy. The second last option in the list that’ll drop down is ‘Global Suicide Hotline Resources.’ The security and privacy section may also answer other queries you have about WhatsApp.

Find out when your message has been read

With the option of turning read receipts and last seen off, it is hard to know if someone hasn’t read your message or they are simply ignoring you. WhatsApp, however, has a solution for this. Just long press on the message you have sent and then select information icon ‘i’ on the top bar. You’ll get to know if your message has been read or not. However, you can only know the exact time of your message being read if the person does not have read receipts and last seen off.

Turn off read receipts

Chances are you already know about this one. But we’ll mention it for those who don’t know about this feature. You can turn off read receipts on WhatsApp by going to Settings > Selecting Account > Clicking on Privacy and then deselecting Read receipts.

Turn off last seen

Do you feel that people getting to know when you last opened your WhatsApp is intrusive? You’ll be happy to know that WhatsApp lets you change that. Just go to Settings > Select Account > Click on Privacy > Choose Last Seen and then select the most suitable option.

Switch off media auto-download

Almost on a daily basis you perhaps receive a multitude of photos and videos on WhatsApp -- half of them are actually not needed. If you are a part of any pesky Groups on WhatsApp, chances are you’ll be getting a lot of “Good Morning, have a nice day” type of pictures and videos on a regular basis. You can manage what gets downloaded automatically and what doesn’t. Go to Settings > Select Data usage and choose the most 

Along with this, WhatsApp has also expanded the limit of participants for its group. Earlier, the app allowed a group of maximum 256 people and now the users can add up to 4,096 people in one group.

WhatsApp will also allow users to see the recent status updates in the WhatsApp widget in iPhone's Today View. Moreover, the update also brings improvements to the voice messaging feature, which will continue the play the voice messages even if they switch the app or turn off the screen.

Last week, WhatsApp rolled out a new feature for its Android users. On Android, the company has improved the ‘Change Number’ feature this time to let you choose if want to notify everyone about your new number or select users. The screenshot posted on the website shows the feature description “You can notify your contacts about your new number. You groups will be notified regardless.” This is followed by three options – All contacts, Contacts I have chats with, and Custom. Blocked numbers won’t be notified.

These options will be shown only after the user goes into the Settings > Account and ‘Change Number’ option.