WhatsApp is one of the handful of apps out there that require no introduction. It is used by over 1.5 billion users across the globe which has propelled it to be the best instant messaging platform in the world. In its initial year, Facebook saw its potential and quickly snapped it up and since then there has been no stopping the juggernaut that is WhatsApp.
Ever since Facebook acquired it, they have been steadily ramping up its features by simplifying the overall user experience. However, there are a variety of features that slip under the radar which many people out there are not aware about. Because of this, there are some features of WhatsApp that are grossly underutilized or hidden.
The hidden features range from knowing who the person is you chat with the most to creating shortcuts to conversations. Here we breakdown a few features that you may not know about.
Know who your closest friend is: Most of our WhatsApp accounts are filled with literally hundreds of contacts and for some, the chats extend all the way to a few years ago. However, there is always that one person you constantly text or share media files with. Here is a tip which will be helpful to you that will help you know who your favourite WhatsApp contact is. This trick is done by ranking your top friend by the amount of data you have shared with them. To know who your special friend is head on over to Settings> Data and Storage usage> Storage and voila, the person at the top of the list is your closes WhatsApp contact.
Send your location: Fair enough, this isn’t that hidden, but there are countless people across the globe that doesn’t know it exists. Providing directions over the phone is rather exhausting and directions can get lost along the way. WhatsApp has made your life simple by merely tapping the attachment menu in your friend’s chat page and then select a location. You can choose to send your exact location or live location. You can also choose how long they can view your location on the map. This is a very handy feature as it can save a lot of time.
Broadcast a message privately: This is an awesome feature and we are extremely happy that WhatsApp has enabled it. In the New Broadcast feature, you can now broadcast messages to a group and it will show up as a private message. This is especially useful for sending invites to people without needing to use the old broadcast feature. All you have to do is just create a list and send a message just like you would do in a group chat. The difference is as mentioned above, it will appear as a privately composed text.
Shortcuts to conversations: Everyone has that one or two favourite WhatsApp contact whom they speak to the most. Opening the app and locating their chat page may be a bit of a task. However, WhatsApp has got you covered here as well and you can now simply create a shortcut of the contact(s) on your home screen. To add your friend to your home screen all you need to do is tap and hold the chat to choose it, then tap the three vertical dots on the top right and then choose Add chat shortcut. That’s it.
Star messages: This is essentially bookmarking a text which you can view at a later date. To enable this, tap and hold the message you want to star and just tap the star icon which is located at the top of the screen. To view the starred messages, tap the person’s name at the top of the display where you will be greeted with an options menu. After this simply choose the starred messages option.
