Web User - UK (2019-11-13)

48 13 - 26 November 2019

Unsendembarrassing

messages

Don’tpanic!WhatsAppnowletsyou

‘unsend’accidentallydispatched

messages.Long-pressthemessage,

tapthebiniconandselectDeleteFor

Everyone.Thiserasestheoffendingtext

fromyourrecipient’sscreenaswellas

yourown,whetherornotit’sbeenread.

Thecatchis thatyoucanonlyunsend

a messageforuptoanhourandyour

recipientwillsee‘Thismessagewas

deleted’,whichmayleavethemfeeling

evenmoredeterminedtofindoutwhat

theymissed.

Hideyourselfand

yourblueticks

WhatsAppencryptsyourmessagesin

transit,butit’shardlya fortressof

privacy.Bydefault,it revealswhen

you’reonline,whattimeyouwerelast

activeandwhenyou’vereadmessages.

Toswitchofftheseintrusions,open

SettingsviaWhatsApp’smainmenu

thengotoAccount,Privacy.Tap‘Last

seen’,thenNobody(tohidethe‘online’

tag)anddisable‘Readreceipts’tostop

theblueticks.

Disablingblueticksalsopreventsyou

fromseeingwhenrecipientsreadyour

messages,soyoucouldkeepthem

switchedonandusethisalternative

trickinstead:setyourdevicetodisplay

fullmessagesin notifications.OniOS,

youcouldalsogetSiritoreadthemout

and,in Chrome,youcanusefree

extensionWAToolkittodisplay

notifications(seeboxout,opposite).

Thatway,youcanreadincoming

messageswithoutopeningWhatsApp

andtriggeringa readreceipt.

Saveprivateaudionotes

Themicrophoneiconin thebottom-

rightcornerofWhatsApp’smessage

windowworkslikea walkie-talkie

button.Pressandholdit,recorda voice

message,thenletgotoinstantlysendit.

Youcancancelbeforesendingby

swipingleft,orenablehands-freemode

byslidingyourfingeruptothelockicon

whilerecording.

Witha bitoftrickery,thisfeaturealso

worksasa privatedictaphonefor

recordingideas.Firstaddyourown

numberasa contact(tapthegreen

messagebuttonthen‘Newcontact’,

‘Createcontact’),thenstarta thread

(‘chat’)withyourselfandgettalking.

OnAndroid,theaudiofilesaresavedin

WhatsApp\Media\Audiofilesaswellas

in theapp;oniOSthey’resavedin the

apponly.

Shareyourlivelocation

WhatsAppnowletsyoushareyour

device’slocationin realtime,soyour

recipientcantrackexactlywhereyou

are,whichis handywhenmeetingin an

unfamiliarplace.Opena chatwiththat

person,thentapthe‘attach’icon

(papercliponAndroid;‘+’oniOS)and

chooseLocationfromtheattachment

options(whichalsoincludeaudiofiles,

WhatsApp lets you delete sent messages,

if you’re quick – but everyone will know

Go incognito and ditch the blue ticks to

stop WhatsApp revealing your every move

Turn WhatsApp’s audio message feature

into a private dictaphone

Give a friend temporary tracking

privileges to help with a rendezvous

SECRET TIPS

It’s thebest and most popular

messaging app but are you

getting the most out of it?

Jane Hoskyn reveals the

latest expert tricks for

mastering WhatsApp

for WhatsApp