WhatsApp Update To Allow Users To Leave Groups Silently

Mark Zuckerberg of Meta Platforms has confirmed a number of new privacy changes for WhatsApp, scheduled for an forthcoming update.

The main change seems to be that users will be able to exit group chats, without everyone in the group being notified, Zuckerberg revealed in a Facebook post.

Last month Zuckjerberg had announced that a WhatsApp update would also allow for more personalisation of user chats, with the “ability to use any emoji as a reaction on WhatsApp.”

‘Privacy’ changes

WhatsApp users had only been able to react with six emoji, namely the thumbs up, heart, joined hands, tears of joy, mouth open and crying face.

Now the firm has extended the emoji reaction feature to everyone reacting to messages.

And Zuckerberg on Tuesday revealed some more changes.

Besides users being able to avoid social awkwardness by silently leaving annoying groups, the company has announced a couple of other changes.

The second change concerns more control over who can see when a user is online or checking their messages.

The third change concerns preventing screenshots on “view once messages” – a Snapchat-like feature commonly used for sexting or the sending of other inmate messages or pictures.

Still risky?

However preventing a ‘view once’ message from being screen shotted does not guarantee total privacy, as the recipient could theoretically still use another device to take a picture of the message – providing they can do it within seconds of receiving the ‘view once’ message.

Some users have also questioned the silently leaving group chats change, and instead pointed out that Meta should just add a simple step so that people cannot be added to a WhatsApp group without their prior consent.

“We’ll keep building new ways to protect your messages and keep them as private and secure as face-to-face conversations,” wrote Zuckerberg.

The update is part of a number of updates slated for the coming month.