3 WhatsApp Features you should be using now – A New York Computer Help WhatsApp tips and tricks feature

Let’s face it, WhatsApp is the sh@#!  I think it’s the #1 messaging app you can use.  First of all, it saves sent images and videos automatically in your photo library on your phone.  It lets you know if your recipient is on the app and when they received your message.  It also has a cool GPS feature where you can locate where your friends are.  The list goes on and on.  It’s like a tech support genius all wrapped up in a lime-green app.  But, you may not have heard of some features that will be an automatic upgrade to your WhatsApp lifestyle.

Here are 3 WhatsApp features you should be using now:

Stay stealth.

Don’t want the world to know when you were last seen online?  You can go stealth if you don’t want friends or random contacts knowing your “Last Seen” time.  Take care of this by going to Settings -> Account -> Privacy -> Last Seen and then from there deciding if you want to block from Everyone, My contacts, or Nobody.

You can also disable read receipts so your sender doesn’t know that you have read his or her message.  You can do this by going to: Settings -> Account -> Privacy and uncheck the Read Receipts box.

Format your message real-time.

You can spruce up your messages on the fly.  Think of it like baby-html.  You can do so with simple commands.

To bold text: *

To italicize text: _

To strikethrough text: ~

As an example, if I want to write in bold, Happy Birthday, to someone, I would write: *Happy Birthday* So, you just nee to insert the character before and after the word you are selecting. Simple enough, right?

Save a message by starring it.

Messages can get long and before you know it, it’s annoying to scroll all the way back up to grab important info.  If you get a link or contact or anything else important to you that you want to save, then star it!  You can star content by long-pressing on the message and tapping the Star icon.  Then, to retrieve your starred messages, on the iOS, just select the Star tab along the bottom of your screen.  Android users need to tap tap on the Menu button and then Starred Messages.