WhatsApp, an online messaging service, has launched a new feature catering to the privacy needs of its more than two billion users in over 180 countries.
“You’re in control of who sees you,” it said in a Twitter thread as it began multiple layers of protection service. WhatsApp, which joined Facebook in 2014, continues to operate as a separate app.
The two billion users also include tennis greats, like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. The three players are in regular contact through a WhatsApp group, according to Nadal.
First layer of protection: online presence
This feature allows user to control who can see online status. “So you can chat without all your contacts knowing you’re there.”
Second layer of protection: status privacy
It lets users to decide who sees status updates
Third layer of protection: profile photo privacy
This feature lets user profile stay under the radar by hiding selected profile photo from select users — or everyone.
Final layer of protection for this combo: read receipts
It allows users to decide who can see when you viewed a message. They can turn off read receipts in settings at any time.
“With these layers of privacy protection combined, you’re practically in stealth mode,” it said.
Meta Platforms (META.O) said on Thursday its WhatsApp messaging service will introduce a commercial directory and test a payments tool in Brazil, as it bets on business messaging as a potential fresh source of revenue, Reuters reported.
“The ultimate goal here is to make it so you can find, message and buy from a business all in the same WhatsApp chat,” Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a video shown at a WhatsApp summit in Sao Paolo.
The directory will allow users to find companies with business messaging accounts on WhatsApp, enabling easier access to customer service chats, Meta said in a blog post.
Users previously needed to add a phone number to their contacts or click a link on a separate platform to open a chat with a business. The company started testing the directory in Sao Paolo last year.
There were mixed reactions to the new features on Twitter, with many users appreciating and others comparing it to other mobile applications.
This user wondered why WhatsApp was following Snapchat.
“If I wanna be that private I’ll just use Snapchat. What’s app suppose to be about close friends and family why be so secretive like that,” she said.
One user came up with suggestions to add more features like “edit messages, the capacity of having previous group messages while joining the group in between, scheduling messages, ensuring if a group message is sent late due to network issues and some messages come in between, arrange the messages in order of their sending.”
This one highlighted the issues he faced.
