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