Ten Settings To Change On WhatsApp For Your iDevice

Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash

WhatsApp is the world’s largest and most widely used instant messaging service. It is the default messaging service in many countries and has 14 percent of all people worldwide as monthly active users.

If you own an iPhone and prefer WhatsApp to iMessage, here are ten settings you should modify to enhance your privacy and messaging experience.

A) Privacy settings you must change

As a user, you have complete control over what personal data is collected, activity status, and so on that, you share with other WhatsApp users.

You can control who can see your Last Seen and Online Profile Photo, About, Status, and even add you to WhatsApp Groups. You can choose between Everyone, My Contacts, Nobody, or My Contacts Except.

The “My Contacts Except…” feature is helpful because it allows you to restrict contacts without blocking them. To change these privacy settings, follow the steps outlined below.

Let us use Last Seen & Online as an example, and you can replicate the process to make the remaining changes.

photo by the author

1. Open WhatsApp on your iPhone.
2. Tap on the Settings tab located in the bottom navigation bar.
3. Head to Privacy.
4. Tap the Last Seen & Online option.
5. Now, select from the available options. Select from Everyone, My Contacts, or choose the contacts you don’t want to share this info with through the My Contacts Except… option, or just set it to Nobody to hide it from everyone.
6. Under the Who Can See When I’m Online menu, select Everyone or the Same as Last Seen option to apply the same settings.

You cannot view your WhatsApp contacts’ Last Seen and Online timestamp if you do not share your status with them.

B) Disable read receipts

When you send a message on WhatsApp, it is accompanied by a timestamp and a dynamic icon. This icon changes according to the status of the incoming message.