If you’ve ever been part of a WhatsApp group chat before, you know the unwritten rule: you cannot, under no circumstances, exit the chat. Sure, if it’s a group chat for an event you can’t make, then you’re allowed to dip out — though, only after you announce you are, of course. But if it’s just a general group chat? You’re locked in, and leaving will alert everyone in the chat and promptly cause chaos.
You’ll be pleased (or annoyed you didn’t know sooner!) to hear then that it is possible to leave a WhatsApp group chat without notifying everyone. In other words, without the awkward “Blah blah has left the chat” announcement. It’s all thanks to an app update made back in September 2022.
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So, how can you leave a WhatsApp group without anyone knowing? Well, you’ll have to make sure you have the latest version of WhatsApp on iOS or Android. And then it’s pretty straightforward. On iOS, you can either open up the chat, go to Group Info (by tapping on its name) and then scroll down to Exit Group. Or, you can open up the Chats page with all your conversations, swipe left on the group chat you want to exit, tap More and then Exit Group.
On Android, you’ll long-press the group chat you want to exit until a green tick appears on the chat. Then press the three dots in the top right-hand corner of the chat group to bring up a sub-menu where you’ll be allowed to Exit Group.
This was always the way to exit a group chat, but the app update late last year made it so that only the admin — in other words, the person who created the group — would be notified when you leave. The update also included a feature that lets you control who sees when you’re ‘online’. You know, so you can better avoid someone.
Last week, we shared that WhatsApp looked to be dabbling in newsletters. A blog dedicated to WhatsApp news and developments discovered that the instant messaging app is working on a “private newsletter tool”.
“WhatsApp is now working on a new feature called Newsletter,” reported the publication WABetaInfo. “To be honest, we cannot say for sure that it is really called ‘Newsletter’ as it seems a codename at the moment, but we can temporarily call it that way.”
Whatever the feature’s actual name, the WhatsApp newsletter will reportedly be a tool for broadcasting information and for users to receive useful updates from people and groups like local officials, sports teams and other organisations, according to the publication. Users will be able to choose who they want to hear from and follow broadcasters of their choice right within WhatsApp. It’s worth noting though that at this stage, details on who will actually be putting out the newsletters are unclear.
📝 WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.5.8: what’s new?
WhatsApp is redesigning the Status tab to include newsletters, providing a new way for users to receive updates, for a future version of the app!https://t.co/i6zqPSpgeO pic.twitter.com/y0iuT2QPuG
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) March 1, 2023
“Based on several clues in the code, Newsletters will be a separate and optional section available within the Status tab which is separate from private chats, and will not affect the end-to-end encryption of private messaging: all your messages and calls are and will always be end-to-end encrypted.”
In other words, the WhatsApp newsletter is being built with privacy in mind. None of your contacts in the app will be able to see who you’re following, and your phone numbers and personal info will always be hidden.
WABetaInfo adds that Newsletters won’t be a public social network — it’ll be a personal space where you are always in control over what you see, when you see it and who you see it from. Currently, it doesn’t have any ads on it, and there’s no sign of algorithmic recommendations or social graphs pushing content to users they didn’t choose to receive.
“The content will always be shown chronologically without any magic priority, just like other WhatsApp chats,” the publication reports.
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