The popular instant messaging giant WhatsApp has been thinking about safety features lately. After introducing a lot of features which increase the functionality inside the application and offer some exciting things to the users, WhatsApp has now turned its eye to the significant problem its platform is facing, that is fake news. The problem is so widespread that WhatsApp has been involved in discussion with the government of India to get rid of it and it has also introduced some features exclusively for this reason. Last year, we got to see features like the forwarded tag, and the limit of users to which you could send a message. However, 2019 has seen a few different updates, which increase the security, safety and overall functionality of the WhatsApp messaging application. Let’s take a quick look at what these features are.
Biometric Authentication
Finally, WhatsApp has introduced a feature which will let you protect your app even when your phone is open. Previously, if your screen was open, it was possible for anyone to open your WhatsApp and hinder your privacy, but thanks to this new feature you will be able to protect your WhatsApp by TouchID or FaceID. As you expect, this feature will make its way to iOS first. Also, users of WhatsApp on iOS will be able to choose a timeframe after which their WhatsApp will be locked again, and after this time frame, they will be required to complete the biometric authentication to access the app. It is not known currently when WhatsApp will ship this feature to the stable version of Android.
WhatsApp Tipline
Now, this is one of the essential things that WhatsApp has introduced in the recent times because through this Checkpoint Tip Line (+91-9643-000-888), WhatsApp users will be able to report any misinformation or fake news that is being spread on the platform. This tip line will help WhatsApp create a database of rumours which will study all the flagged misinformation during elections. Notably, this tipline has been launched by an Indian media skilling startup named PROTO and is a research project commissioned and technically assisted by WhatsApp.
Group Calling Shortcut
The group calling feature was one of the most significant additions to the app in 2018. The first time we got to see the feature on the app was on the version 2.19.9 on Android, but it was available a little earlier for iPhone users. This new group calling shortcut on WhatsApp will allow the users to add participants to the group call through a slide-out tray icon which contains the contact cards of your WhatsApp group member.
Private Reply
This is another one of the demanded features on the instant messaging application, and it was recently introduced to the Android beta version of WhatsApp 2.18.355 after making its way to the iOS version. Using this feature, users would be able to reply to a particular message in a group to the sender in their private chat box thus keeping the reply away from the other group members. However, if you are on Android, you will have to download the latest version of WhatsApp beta to test this app.
Improved WhatsApp Web Picture in Picture Mode
We all know that WhatsApp picture in picture mode is a convenient feature to watch videos inside the app. However, the company has now extended this feature to its web version as well. The PiP mode allows the users to watch videos from YouTube, Facebook and Instagram within the messaging app itself in a small window.
