Don’t you just hate it when you hear the sound of a whatsApp notification and think it’s important, only to find memes you don’t relate to, posted in a group you were forcefully added? Worse of, receiving 200 plus messages immediately you turn on your data or Wifi, all from a group whose conversation least interests you?
Well, finally, WhatsApp is adding controls to help mitigate some of this trauma. The Facebook-owned instant messaging firm is rolling out a new privacy setting that will allow users to control who can add them to groups.
At the moment, it is possible for anyone to add you to a WhatsApp group, as long as they have your mobile number. This can be very annoying if you have no interest in the topic of conversation.
The new privacy setting forces other users to send you an invitation to the group, which you can choose to accept or decline, meaning you’ll only be added to groups you want to be a part of. The feature is already available to some WhatsApp users in India, and will be rolled out worldwide in the coming weeks via an app update.
Once the update is installed, the option to manage this feature will be tucked inside the Settings > Account > Privacy > Groups menu. There you will see three more options – ‘Everyone’, ‘My contacts’, and ‘Nobody’. Selecting ‘Everyone’ will let everyone with your WhatsApp number add you to a group. The ‘My contacts’ option will limit the option to people whose numbers are already saved in your contacts. And, choosing the ‘Nobody’ option will prevent everyone from adding you to a group.
Those who cannot add you to a group will be able to send you a private invitation to join a group. You will then have 72 hours to accept the invitation after which the invite will expire.
