Looking at their recent updates, Facebook-owned platforms seem to be promoting features that let users stay in touch with someone, without really being bothered about their activities on the platform. Instagram, for instance, recently allowed users to Mute others without having to unfriend them. WhatsApp is now reportedly bringing a similar option.
So what is new with the ¡®Mute¡¯ feature on WhatsApp? Unlike the present Mute options, the new one will let you mute someone forever.
As per a recent report by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is going to bring a new ¡®Mute Always¡¯ setting for chats. As the name suggests, the feature will allow users to indefinitely mute any chat or group chat.
Once brought to the live version of WhatsApp, the feature will replace the 1-year option within the Mute notifications in settings.
The feature was spotted in WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.20.197.3. It is expected to appear in the beta channel in a future update but is currently under development. The Mute Always is not the only mute option WhatsApp is working on though.
The chat app will reportedly also bring a shortcut to the mute option to its users soon. Through this feature, users will be able to mute any chat right from their phone notifications.
The feature was recently spotted on the beta version of WhatsApp for Android.
The report, however, points out that the feature will not be available right away for every chat. Instead, it will appear when at least 51 messages are received from a single chat.
Before this count is reached, the app will show a ¡®Mark as Read¡¯ button instead, which can be used to dismiss the notification.
Both the features will enable WhatsApp users to use the app without being bothered by endless messages from certain groups/ individuals. Other features that are soon to make their way to the app are ¡®expiring messages¡¯ and ¡®multi-device access¡¯, testing for which has been started in a beta release.