The number of daily active WhatsApp users reached 300 million users worldwide and that is certainly not a small number. This growth plays no adverse effect on the individual usability of the app but the creators of WhatsApp have surely begun to make constant changes and improvements to its features.
Whether you want to disable notifications that spam your smartphone or you want to make online reachability easier then you should not fret as WhatsApp now has every such feature. While you might be aware of some of the widely used features but some of these are still hidden to many people out there.
Since the upsurge of mobile apps has also brought an increment to companies providing Android app development services, if you happen to be a WhatsApp user then it is one of the widely used apps worldwide. To make the most out of it, you should know every intricate detail and features WhatsApp has to offer to you.
Share live location
Giving directions has never been so easier as this new WhatsApp feature lets you share your live location to other WhatsApp users. If you are unable to give directions, you can simply add a drop pin of your location by selecting the “Live Location” option. Once that is enabled, your location is now shared with your chosen WhatsApp contacts. They can view your current location on the map or you can send them a location pin of the place you are headed towards.
There is also the “Stop Sharing” option available in the chat but either you or you can delete the location broadcast or you can choose from live broadcast options ranging from 15 minutes to 8 hours.
Send messages privately using broadcast
It would not make sense if you created a Facebook event solely for a birthday party and invited all of your friends to it instead easier options exist now. WhatsApp allows you to send messages or invites to your contacts privately. The email could work but today’s era is all about dynamism that is why a private message broadcast is the easiest option.
Select the recipients from your contact list and send them the message or invite at once but it will be sent to them as an individual message. This can be done so by creating a “New Broadcast” and then adding the list of contacts you want to send the message to.
Customize notifications and tones
You must be aware of the option to mute group notifications but another WhatsApp feature exists that lets you distinguish between the groups you are a part of simply through custom notifications. You do not have to check your phone whenever you receive a new notification instead you can set different notification tones for certain WhatsApp group chat.
Simply select a group chat, go to “Group Info” and from there select the “Custom Notifications” option. Now you just have to select a pre-defined tone or a custom tone from your sound/music library for the group chat.
Control group chat rights
While most people who create group chats on WhatsApp are not aware of this feature but it is surely a lifesaver when you do not want to bloat your chat with 100+ messages. As a group admin, you have more than one right to control the usual group chat havoc.
This admin-only feature by WhatsApp allows the admin to be the only person who can send messages to the group. This lets you keep important invites or information concise. To access this feature, go to “Group Info” then to “Group Settings and select “Only Admins” for the “Send Messages option.
Create data and media backup
Nobody wants to lose important messages or files and to avoid such a dilemma WhatsApp has got you covered. You no longer have to worry about losing messages or digital media as using this WhatsApp feature you can back up your chat history in a secure manner. The notion of backing up your chat history is different for both iOS and Android users.
For iOS, simply go to the app’s “Settings” then to “Chat” and then select “Chat Backup”. You will be shown a number of preferences such as daily or monthly schedules and you can select any of the available options.
As for Android users, access “Settings” then “Chat and Calls” and from there select “Chat Backup”. This option lets you create a backup to your Google Drive and that way whenever you add WhatsApp to your new smartphone, you can acquire your chat history and data from the Google Drive.
Conclusion
The fact that WhatsApp has been bought for $19 billion by Facebook is enough to justify its popularity among the most used mobile apps. Since the app has already established its name as a renowned messaging and socializing app, you can avail all of its features without any hassle. WhatsApp might not be used in an offline mode and requires data or Wi-Fi connection at all times, it is safe to say that as a free-to-use app, it has all the features you would demand in a text-messaging app.
