WhatsApp might finally allow users to protect themselves from spam

WhatsApp has been working on a new feature allowing users to prevent unknown accounts from sending them messages. This has been in development for quite some time, but WhatsApp seems to be confident in the end result and is now making the feature available to beta testers.

The fine folks at WABetaInfo report that WhatsApp is now rolling out a new update on Android devices that introduces the ability to block messages from unknown accounts.

The new security feature is hidden in the Advanced tab under the Privacy Settings menu and comes in the form of a simple toggle, which allows users to turn it off and on whenever they wish. While having the option to block messages coming from unknown accounts certainly keeps spam to a minimum, the way WhatsApp is implementing it isn’t as we would’ve expected.

Apparently, WhatsApp will only block messages from unknown accounts if they exceed a certain volume. It was implemented that way in order to allow business accounts or other accounts that you haven’t interacted with to still be able to send you messages that might prove to be important. Not only that, but WhatsApp will lift the block once the messaging volume returns to normal, which seems like a rather bad decision. In any case, the security feature is still being tested, so the final version might work slightly differently than it is now.

If you’re enrolled in the beta program, you should be looking for WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.20.16. Keep in mind though that the feature seems to be available only to a select number of users, although WhatsApp is expected to expand its availability to even more users in the coming weeks.

Those who want to check out the new security feature but aren’t yet enrolled in the beta can do so via the Google Play Beta Program link.