Best WhatsApp Tips & Tricks – Tech Advisor
Best WhatsApp tips and tricks
- More stories
According to Android Police WhatsApp is presently testing a feature that lets you pin talks, which will be handy if you have numerous conversations to keep track of.
Right now to use this you will need to be a beta tester – you can sign up here.
Pin talks
According to Android Police WhatsApp is presently testing a feature that lets you pin talks, which will be handy if you have numerous conversations to keep track of.
Right now to use this you will need to be a beta tester – you can sign up here.
Edit WhatsApp picture messages
The latest update to WhatsApp lets you doodle on and edit pictures before you send them. With a conversation open, tap the camera icon next to the text-entry field as usual and select an pic from your gallery. Then choose one of the fresh icons at the top right of the display to crop the picture, add a sticker, inject text or draw a doodle. When your glad just tap Send.
Send GIFs
The latest update (Two.16.15 on iOS) lets you send GIFs. This works even if your friend has the Android app: they just won’t be able to reply with another GIF.
To send a GIF, press the + icon, then Photo & Movie LIbrary. You can select any movie up to six seconds long, and you can also 3D Touch on a Live photo from your Camera Roll, swipe up and select Send as GIF.
You can even copy and paste a GIF from Giphy (which has a massive searchable library) if you also install the GIPHY Keys app from the Apple App Store. Once done, go to Settings > General > Keyboard and add a fresh keyboard. You’ll see GIPHY Keys in the list. Select it, then tap on it and enable Permit Total Access.
When you’re back in WhatsApp, switch to the other keyboard by pressing the world symbol, then search for your GIF. Tap on one to copy it, and paste it into the message.
Tag people in messages
It’s now possible to tag other members of a WhatsApp group message in order to get their attention even if they have muted the conversation. To notify any member of a group message that you’re attempting to get their attention simply type @ and select them from the list that shows up.
Format text
After many years of plain text support, WhatsApp has ultimately flipped out formatting support, enabling WhatsApp-ers to add bold, italicised and strikethrough formatting options to their messages.
Once users are running version Two.12.535 on Android and Two.12.17 on iOS, it’s fairly effortless to do. Simply open a talk and go after these instructions:
- Bold: Add asterisks to either side of the text (*bold*)
- Italics: Add underscores to either side of the text (_italics_)
- Strikethrough: Add tildes either side of the text (
Turn off last seen
Unless you disable the feature, WhatsApp will display to all your friends when you were last online – making those awkward messages that little bit firmer to avoid. Don’t worry as there is a way to disable the timestamp and vanish into the shadows, albeit the catch is that you won’t be able to see when any of your friends were last online. It’s only fair, right?
On iOS and Android devices, simply head to the Settings menu, then tap > Account > Privacy > Last Seen Timestamp and make sure ’Nobody’ is selected. You should then be free to access WhatsApp without others watching when you were last online.
Turn on or off read receipts
Just like with the ‘Last Seen’ timestamp, WhatsApp will also let your friends know when you’ve read their messages, and just like the timestamp feature, this too can be disabled. It’s worth noting that disabling the feature will mean that you won’t know if/when messages you’ve sent have been read by the recipient, and group message read receipts will still be sent regardless.
Head to the Settings menu, tap Account > Privacy and toggle the ‘Read Receipts’ option off.
Back up WhatsApp
For some time now, WhatsApp has suggested the functionality to back up all your talks and media in case you switch (or liberate) your smartphone. This is automatically done once every few days/every week in most cases, but you can also make a manual backup if need be.
To by hand back up your messages on iOS, open the WhatsApp Settings menu and tap Talks > Talk Backup and tap ‘Back Up Now’ (select ‘Include movies’ if not already checked too). The backup should begin shortly after. It’s slightly different for Android users – head to Settings > Talks > Talk Backup and tap ‘Back Up’ to create a backup via WhatsApp servers, or log in with your Google account and backup via Google Drive.
To restore talks directly from a backup for whatever reason, simply uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp. When you open the app after the reinstall, you should be prompted to restore your most latest backup. Read next: How to restore talks from a backup
Find out who is your best WhatsApp friend
Ever wondered who you speak to the most on WhatsApp? We have too, and thanks to WhatsApp’s storage breakdown available for iOS (Sorry Android!) users, you can find out exactly how many messages you’ve sent in total, and to each person. Simply head to Settings > Account > Storage Usage and you’ll find the total number of messages at the top of the page followed by a list of talks ranked on most > least messages.
Use WhatsApp on your tablet or PC
Thanks to the introduction of WhatsApp Web, a web interface permitting users to access their WhatsApp messages via an internet browser, users can now use WhatsApp on an iPad, PC or Mac. On a PC or Mac simply head to web.whatsapp.com and scan the QR code using the QR reader built into WhatsApp for iOS and Android. This will link your account with the PC/Mac and permit you to send and receive messages from your smartphone.
It’s slightly different for iPad users tho’, as while the WhatsApp Web will work in Safari, it’s not a fine practice. Developers have created WhatsApp Web ‘apps’ available on the App Store, which bring a nicer user practice and even shove notifications to iPad users. Read next: How to use WhatsApp Web
Mute a group talk
It has been five or so years since you left Uni, and your mates thought it’d be a good idea to create a group talk with (what feels like) fifteen million people permanently sending messages. We’ve all been there, right? The good news is that you can mute the inane chatter for eight hours, a week or even a year if you’ve got no plans to join in with the ‘banter’.
It’s a fairly effortless thing to do to, simply open the annoying group talk, tap the name of the talk at the top of the app, tap ‘Mute’ and select the duration of the mute.
Best WhatsApp Tips & Tricks – Tech Advisor
Best WhatsApp tips and tricks
- More stories
According to Android Police WhatsApp is presently testing a feature that lets you pin talks, which will be handy if you have numerous conversations to keep track of.
Right now to use this you will need to be a beta tester – you can sign up here.
Pin talks
According to Android Police WhatsApp is presently testing a feature that lets you pin talks, which will be handy if you have numerous conversations to keep track of.
Right now to use this you will need to be a beta tester – you can sign up here.
Edit WhatsApp picture messages
The latest update to WhatsApp lets you doodle on and edit pictures before you send them. With a conversation open, tap the camera icon next to the text-entry field as usual and select an pic from your gallery. Then choose one of the fresh icons at the top right of the display to crop the picture, add a sticker, come in text or draw a doodle. When your glad just tap Send.
Send GIFs
The latest update (Two.16.15 on iOS) lets you send GIFs. This works even if your friend has the Android app: they just won’t be able to reply with another GIF.
To send a GIF, press the + icon, then Photo & Movie LIbrary. You can select any movie up to six seconds long, and you can also 3D Touch on a Live photo from your Camera Roll, swipe up and select Send as GIF.
You can even copy and paste a GIF from Giphy (which has a massive searchable library) if you also install the GIPHY Keys app from the Apple App Store. Once done, go to Settings > General > Keyboard and add a fresh keyboard. You’ll see GIPHY Keys in the list. Select it, then tap on it and enable Permit Total Access.
When you’re back in WhatsApp, switch to the other keyboard by pressing the world symbol, then search for your GIF. Tap on one to copy it, and paste it into the message.
Tag people in messages
It’s now possible to tag other members of a WhatsApp group message in order to get their attention even if they have muted the conversation. To notify any member of a group message that you’re attempting to get their attention simply type @ and select them from the list that shows up.
Format text
After many years of plain text support, WhatsApp has ultimately flipped out formatting support, enabling WhatsApp-ers to add bold, italicised and strikethrough formatting options to their messages.
Once users are running version Two.12.535 on Android and Two.12.17 on iOS, it’s fairly effortless to do. Simply open a talk and go after these instructions:
- Bold: Add asterisks to either side of the text (*bold*)
- Italics: Add underscores to either side of the text (_italics_)
- Strikethrough: Add tildes either side of the text (
Turn off last seen
Unless you disable the feature, WhatsApp will display to all your friends when you were last online – making those awkward messages that little bit tighter to avoid. Don’t worry as there is a way to disable the timestamp and vanish into the shadows, albeit the catch is that you won’t be able to see when any of your friends were last online. It’s only fair, right?
On iOS and Android devices, simply head to the Settings menu, then tap > Account > Privacy > Last Seen Timestamp and make sure ’Nobody’ is selected. You should then be free to access WhatsApp without others witnessing when you were last online.
Turn on or off read receipts
Just like with the ‘Last Seen’ timestamp, WhatsApp will also let your friends know when you’ve read their messages, and just like the timestamp feature, this too can be disabled. It’s worth noting that disabling the feature will mean that you won’t know if/when messages you’ve sent have been read by the recipient, and group message read receipts will still be sent regardless.
Head to the Settings menu, tap Account > Privacy and toggle the ‘Read Receipts’ option off.
Back up WhatsApp
For some time now, WhatsApp has suggested the functionality to back up all your talks and media in case you switch (or liberate) your smartphone. This is automatically done once every few days/every week in most cases, but you can also make a manual backup if need be.
To by hand back up your messages on iOS, open the WhatsApp Settings menu and tap Talks > Talk Backup and tap ‘Back Up Now’ (select ‘Include movies’ if not already checked too). The backup should begin shortly after. It’s slightly different for Android users – head to Settings > Talks > Talk Backup and tap ‘Back Up’ to create a backup via WhatsApp servers, or log in with your Google account and backup via Google Drive.
To restore talks directly from a backup for whatever reason, simply uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp. When you open the app after the reinstall, you should be prompted to restore your most latest backup. Read next: How to restore talks from a backup
Find out who is your best WhatsApp friend
Ever wondered who you speak to the most on WhatsApp? We have too, and thanks to WhatsApp’s storage breakdown available for iOS (Sorry Android!) users, you can find out exactly how many messages you’ve sent in total, and to each person. Simply head to Settings > Account > Storage Usage and you’ll find the total number of messages at the top of the page followed by a list of talks ranked on most > least messages.
Use WhatsApp on your tablet or PC
Thanks to the introduction of WhatsApp Web, a web interface permitting users to access their WhatsApp messages via an internet browser, users can now use WhatsApp on an iPad, PC or Mac. On a PC or Mac simply head to web.whatsapp.com and scan the QR code using the QR reader built into WhatsApp for iOS and Android. This will link your account with the PC/Mac and permit you to send and receive messages from your smartphone.
It’s slightly different for iPad users tho’, as while the WhatsApp Web will work in Safari, it’s not a good practice. Developers have created WhatsApp Web ‘apps’ available on the App Store, which bring a nicer user practice and even shove notifications to iPad users. Read next: How to use WhatsApp Web
Mute a group talk
It has been five or so years since you left Uni, and your mates thought it’d be a good idea to create a group talk with (what feels like) fifteen million people permanently sending messages. We’ve all been there, right? The good news is that you can mute the inane chatter for eight hours, a week or even a year if you’ve got no plans to join in with the ‘banter’.
It’s a fairly effortless thing to do to, simply open the annoying group talk, tap the name of the talk at the top of the app, tap ‘Mute’ and select the duration of the mute.
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