WhatsApp has been actively adding new features to its Android and iOS apps and there are three more coming to the platform alongside others like Stickers, PiP mode and so on. The first feature on this list is Linked Accounts which allows a user to link their account with external services like Instagram and Facebook. The purpose behind this linking accounts feature is unknown, but it will be arriving to both WhatsApp Business and standard WhatsApp applications. The second feature on the list is Silent Mode which will not show any app badges for muted chats- a very handy feature indeed. And the last one for the day is Vacation Mode, which is yet another handy feature that removes the hassle of archiving chats every now and then.
WhatsApp Vacation Mode: What is It?
By now, everyone knows that WhatsApp allows its users to archive chats. But right now, whenever a new message arrives from the archived chat, the conversation will be automatically unarchived. However, things are going to change with Vacation Mode, which won't unarchive the archived or muted chats. This is one of the most requested features from users who use the archive feature a lot. Having said that, Vacation Mode comes in handy even for normal users as if they don't want to see a chat in their home screen or recent chats list, they can archive it, instead of deleting it permanently. With Vacation Mode, the chat will never be seen until you manually check for the archived chats inside your WhatsApp account.
Do make a note that the Vacation Mode is currently under development and it will be available for users in future releases. And yes, both Android and iOS users will get this feature, but most likely, iOS users will get it first, according to WABetaInfo.
WhatsApp Linked Accounts Feature: What's the Purpose?
In the past, it was speculated that users would soon be able to recover their Facebook account using WhatsApp, and it could soon become a reality. WhatsApp has started its work on Linked Accounts feature and it will list two external services under this list- Facebook and Instagram. So, once you link your Instagram or Facebook accounts to your WhatsApp account, you'll be able to recover the other two using WhatsApp in the future.
WhatsApp Silent Mode for Android is Now Rolling Out
The last feature which is actually being pushed to every Android 8.0 Oreo and above users is Silent Mode. With Android Oreo, Google introduced app badges which displays the number of pending notifications on top of the app icon. WhatsApp has added support for app badges long back, but there was one big flaw which the company did not fix until now. Nevertheless, that's going away with the Silent Mode.
Earlier, WhatsApp displayed app badges even for muted chats, meaning when a message arrived on a muted chat, WhatsApp used to display a new notification badge on the home screen and app drawer. Seeing that, many users will be entering the app to check who messaged them. That's going away with silent mode as WhatsApp will no more display app badges for muted chats.
Do make a note that the Silent Mode feature is rolling out to all Android 8.0 Oreo and above users and it will be enabled by default, so no settings changes are required.
