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WhatsApp may soon let you hide your activity status

By Rajiv Menon
1 min read
Whatsapp New logo
Whatsapp New logo
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Sometimes, you might not want your friends on social media to know when you’re online. You probably don’t want to be disturbed, or you are a very privacy-oriented person and just don’t want others to know when you are on your socials. This is why apps like Messenger and Instagram have an option to hide your activity status, and soon, WhatsApp will have a similar feature as well.

As spotted by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is working on a way to let you hide your online status. From the screenshot below, we can see that the new option will probably be situated in the Last Seen section in the Privacy settings menu of the app.

Most likely, you will be able to choose between hiding your activity status from everyone or concealing it only from those selected in the “Who can see my last seen” section.

Although the screenshot was taken from the iOS version of the WhatsApp beta, the new “Who can see when I’m online” feature will most likely come to the Android and Desktop WhatsApp versions as well. However, keep in mind that this option is still under development, and some things might be changed when it is publicly released.

Nevertheless, for quite some time now, many WhatsApp users have wanted an option to choose who can see their activity status. So, it’s great that the people behind WhatsApp have listened and decided to finally introduce such an option to the platform.

Questions & Answers

Q.

Which other social media apps already have the ability to hide activity status?

A.

The article mentions that apps like Messenger and Instagram currently offer an option for users to hide their activity status. This allows users to control when others know they are online on those platforms.

Q.

Where is this new privacy option expected to be located within the WhatsApp app?

A.

The new option to hide online status will probably be situated in the Last Seen section, which is found within the Privacy settings menu of the WhatsApp app. This placement is based on a beta screenshot.

Q.

Will this feature only be available on specific versions of WhatsApp?

A.

Although the initial screenshot was from the iOS beta, the new 'Who can see when I’m online' feature is expected to also be available on Android and Desktop versions of WhatsApp when it is publicly released.

Q.

What choices will users likely have when deciding who can see their online status?

A.

Users will most likely be able to choose between hiding their activity status from everyone, or concealing it only from those selected in the existing 'Who can see my last seen' section. This offers flexible privacy control.

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