While new features on WhatsApp can prove a little hit or miss, the latest batch for the Meta-owned messaging platform focuses primarily on privacy and adds a rather interesting ability to leave groups silently, along with some other additions.

These features are said to only be the start, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg taking to Facebook to share his thoughts on the WhatsApp update and plans to eventually make the platform “as private and secure as face-to-face conversations.”

While we will need to see whether Meta keeps to its word on that front, in the interim, WhatsApp is adding an online presence control feature that allows you send messages on the platform while appearing as offline or away.

Added to this are some granular controls, such as selecting who can and cannot see that you are online. There are also no limits to these controls, with the feature set to rollout on both the mobile and desktop versions of the app later this month.

Another feature being tested out is screenshot blocking, with it working on view once messages that disappear after they have been viewed. There is no timeframe on this feature’s rollout, but Meta says it is refining the functionality and readying to launch it soon.

As for the ability to leave groups silently, it should be noted that group admins will be notified when you leave, but others in the group will not. It should therefore help remove some of the anxiety that may have existed for those too self-conscious to leave a group.

This feature will also be rolled out later this month, but a precise date in August has not been detailed by the messaging platform.

Your privacy deserves more protection.

That's why we're excited to announce three 🆕 layers of security to wrap your messages in.

Learn what they do 👇 pic.twitter.com/AmV0YoZcC8

— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) August 9, 2022

[Image – Photo by Dima Solomin on Unsplash]