1. Hidden message reading
This feature comes in handy when you don’t want your contacts to know about your activity in the application. You can read the incoming message, and the two checkboxes with confirmation will not be displayed in the chat. To do this, go to “Settings” → “Account” / “Account” → “Privacy” and disable the “Read reports” toggle switch.
There is also an alternative option for hidden reading. When you get a notification on your phone about a new message, without launching the app, turn on airplane mode, and then open WhatsApp and view the chat. This way, you can read the text saved in memory, but the sender will not receive a notification.
2. Disappearing message with a picture or video
If you want to send something important or funny to a friend, you can deprive the recipient of the opportunity to review and re-save the media file. After attaching a picture or video, click the small button next to the text entry line. After you view the file from the message for the first time, it will be immediately removed from the correspondence.
3. Recording a voice message in parts
This function is proper when you want to plan the content of a message and contain all information in one audio track. When you activate the recording, lock it with the appropriate upward gesture and press the pause button when you want to stop. You can record the next piece immediately following by clicking on the microphone icon.
The paused recording also comes in handy while composing messages to yourself if you use WhatsApp to save reminders and essential ideas.
4. Sending a message without adding it to your contacts
This option comes in handy if the person isn’t in your address book and you don’t plan to add them. In addition, the method works for sending messages to yourself if i want to save notes to write my college paper. The function is more convenient to use through the browser of your computer. The system will redirect you to the web version of WhatsApp. That way, you can, for example, quickly transfer photos and videos to your smartphone.
To send a message, you need to open the browser and enter the address https://wa.me/ in the search box, and after the slash, add the recipient’s number with the country code. If you want to write, say, to +7-917-999-99-99, then it must begin with the number 7 – https://wa.me/79179999999.
5. Backup with encryption
Another helpful feature of WhatsApp is to back up chats’ content to the device’s memory and the Google Drive. But essential information can not only be saved but also encrypted from intruders. So you get not just a messenger but a notebook with free data protection.
To activate end-to-end encryption, you need to go to “Chat backup” in the settings and start “Copy with encryption.” Access to the contents of the copy can be protected by the usual password or a 64-digit key, which is worth saving in a safe place and printing on paper. These manipulations will make it very difficult for unauthorized people to disclose your data.
6. Sending a video file as a GIF animation
In some cases, sending an entire video to the chat room is problematic, such as when there is a weak connection to the network. You can use the built-in messenger function to convert video files into a sequence of pictures, which will require fewer resources to process.
To convert a video into animation, you need to select the file and in the upper right corner under the timeline, switch the button from camera to GIF.
7. Clearing storage and saving traffic
With daily active users of the messenger, the content of chats can take up to several gigabytes in smartphone storage, but this space can easily be cleared of unnecessary files.
In the WhatsApp settings, there is a menu “Data and Storage,” which contains a section called “Storage Management.” It displays the total share of the disk used by the app and also collects a list of the space used by correspondence with each user separately. From all heavy chats, you can delete media files if necessary.
In the same menu, “Data and Storage,” there is a section “Quality of media downloads” where you can activate the item “Save data traffic.” Telecom operators are gradually getting rid of unlimited tariffs, so now it is essential to monitor the amount of traffic consumption.
