It’s been a while since the WhatsApp Voice Calling got released for iOS and Android. The feature was recently released for BlackBerry 10 and according to some new rumors it will soon be released for Windows Phone devices as well.
WhatsApp is a messaging application that is used by over 800 active users to send messages, videos, photos etc. to their loved ones. This means that those messages, videos or photos may be quite personal and you don’t want them to be seen by everyone.
Today we’re going to give you a few hints that will help you improve the privacy settings on your WhatsApp.
Hiding Blue Ticks
One of the features that many people hate on WhatsApp is the “Blue ticks”. This feature allows the recipient to know whether you’ve read or not the message(s) (s)he sent you. This feature can be disabled by going to WhatsApp Settings->Account->Privacy and unchecking the “Read receipts” option.
Backing up the WhatsApp conversations
By default, the WhatsApp application is making a backup of your WhatsApp conversations everyday at 4AM. However, you can do it manually anytime you want by going to WhatsApp Settings->Chat Settings and tapping on “Back up chats”.
Hiding WhatsApp pictures from Photos/Gallery
Whenever you receive or send photos on WhatsApp, those photos are automatically saved in a folder on either the internal storage or microSD card. This means, that if you borrow the device to someone and (s)he takes a look at your Photos/Gallery application will be able to view all the photos you’ve sent/received on WhatsApp.
First of all, download and install a file manager application such as Cabinet Beta or ES File Manager. After that, open the file manager and go to the WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Images directory. Here, you will need to create a new file named “.nomedia” and save it. After creating this file, all the WhatsApp images that are stored in here will not be shown in the Photos/Gallery application.
After this, your WhatsApp images will not show up any more in your Gallery/Photos app.
Locking WhatsApp
As you already know, WhatsApp doesn’t come with a password or any type of locker. With other words, in case someone gets his hands on your mobile device, he will be able to open the WhatsApp application and read all the messages you’ve sent to your friends. However, there are a few applications which will add some security to the WhatsApp application by adding a password to it. For example, you can use either LOCX or AppLock. Both of these applications will be able to lock your WhatsApp application and whenever you will try to open it, you will have to enter the password to unlock it.
Hiding the “Last Seen” time
We all have friends that overwhelm us on WhatsApp. As soon as they see that we’re online, they will start bugging us with questions or their problems. However, there are days when you don’t wish to be disturbed by these types of friends. This is when you will want to disable the “Last Seen” status.
Disabling the Last seen time stamp is helpful for those who do not want others to know how often they are online on WhatsApp or, when it’s the last time they used it. Below we’ll show you how to disable it.
Open WhatsApp and go to Settings->Account->Privacy->Last Seen and select “Nobody”. This way, nobody will know when you’ve been last seen on WhatsApp.
Hiding your WhatsApp Profile photo from an Unknown Contact
By default, the WhatsApp profile photo is displayed to anyone that knows your mobile phone number. However, you can hide the profile image by going to WhatsApp Settings->Account->Privacy->Profile Photo and select “My Contacts”. This way, you will share the profile photo only with the persons you have in your contact list.
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