For the smug ones among us, the WhatsApp online status is a frustrating feature that doesn’t let you interact with the app freely when you’re trying to temporarily ignore someone’s messages. That’s seemingly about to change as the app looks set to give you the ability to hide your online status from particular contacts.
WABetaInfo, the go-to platform for everything WhatsApp has learned that the messaging app is currently working on this feature. The website notes that both the Android and iOS versions will be the beneficiaries of the trait.
As per the screenshot released by the site, it looks like the feature will be found in the Privacy section of WhatsApp’s settings. There will be a new section named ‘Who Can See When I’m Online’ right below ‘Who Can See My Last Seen.’
You can choose from two options for the former – ‘Everyone’ and ‘Same As Last Seen.’ This makes things simpler as all you need to do is head into ‘Who Can See My Last Seen’ menu and select the contacts that you want to hide your ‘Last Seen’ and ‘Online’ statuses from.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp is also set to introduce another change. It is apparently readying an update that will change the time limit to delete messages for everyone. The feature is apparently already part of a beta version available on WhatsApp. It basically extends the time limit for the ‘Delete for Everyone’ option to two days and 12 hours from the existing one hour, eight minutes, and 16 seconds options.
Coming back to the ability to control the WhatsApp Online status, the source notes that it’s currently under development and hence, no details are available about when it will be released. We’ll have more on it when newer details are out.