Mark Zuckerberg announces THREE major changes to WhatsApp coming this month
BILLIONAIRE Mark Zuckerberg has revealed three new changes coming to your WhatsApp.
The tech tycoon – who owns WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram – announced the shock update aimed at boosting your "protection" online.
One of the best features includes the ability to leave groups silently.
This means you'll be able to dip out of a group chat without alerting everyone.
"New privacy features coming to WhatsApp," Zuckerberg explained.
"Exit group chats without notifying everyone; control who can see when you're online; and prevent screenshots on view-once messages.
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"We'll keep building new ways to protect your messages and keep them as private and secure as face-to-face conversations."
There are three new app updates in total.
The first is the ability to leave groups silently.
When you leave a group, the usual alert won't appear – although group admins will still be alerted.
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This feature is rolling out to all users globally this month.
The second is a WhatsApp "stealth mode" that lets you choose who can see that you're online.
"Seeing when friends or family are online helps us feel connected to one another," said WhatsApp.
"But we’ve all had times when we wanted to check our WhatsApp privately.
"For the times you want to keep your online presence private, we’re introducing the ability to select who can and can’t see when you’re online."
This feature is also rolling out starting this month.
And the third is screenshot blocking for view-once messages.
That means WhatsApp will stop people from taking screengrabs of self-destructing texts – in a bid to boost privacy.
It's not watertight however: someone could use a second device to take a photograph of your message.
But it's a good step in the right direction when it comes to protecting your privacy.
"No other global messaging service at this scale provides this level of security for their users’ messages, media, voice messages, video calls, and chat backups," said Ami Vora, WhatsApp's Head of Product.
"Over the years, we’ve added interlocking layers of protection to help keep their conversations secure.
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"And the new features is one way we continue to deliver on our commitment to keep messages private.
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"We believe WhatsApp is the most secure place to have a private conversation."
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