WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature that will allow users to leave long group chats without alerting others to their exit.
Currently, exiting a WhatsApp group chat can be an awkward affair as everyone in the chat gets notified when you’re gone. In large groups, it can also be annoying.
Soon, however, instead of notifying everyone in the group when someone leaves, only admins will be notified. This feature will be rolled out to all WhatsApp users from this month.
This is part of some of the measures the encrypted messaging platform is taking in an effort to increase privacy. Another tool announced by the firm will let users hide their presence so that others can’t see that they are online.
WhatsApp is also testing a setting that prevents contacts from screenshotting “view once” messages, which can’t be accessed again after they were initially opened.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of WhatsApp that owns Meta, said it will “continue to create new ways to protect your messages and keep them as private and secure as face-to-face conversations.”
“At WhatsApp, we are focused on building product features that empower people to have more control and privacy over their messages,” said Ami Vora, Product Head of WhatsApp, in a statement.
“Over the years, we’ve added interlocking layers of security to help keep their conversations secure, and the new features are one way we continue our commitment to keeping messages private.”
The update adds to a number of changes Meta has been making to its platform recently.
The firm recently overhauled its main Facebook app to algorithmically prioritize recommended content, while also creating a new feed that shows posts from friends and family in reverse chronological order.
Meta is trying to win over the favor of young “Gen Z” users who have abandoned social apps like Instagram and Snapchat for TikTok, the wildly popular short-form video platform owned by China’s ByteDance.
TikTok’s feed is designed in a way that makes recommendations based on the content it thinks users will be most interested in, making it notoriously addictive to scroll through.