A MASSIVE WhatsApp chat shake-up will make it harder for other people to leak your chats.
It's thanks to a surprise privacy tool that's been added overnight, and works on one-on-one conversations as well as group chats.
The feature is called Advanced Chat Privacy, and it's available right now for free.
says it's designed to limit how people you're chatting with can scoop up your texts and media.
If you turn it on (it's off by default) then it'll be harder for people to leak you conversations outside of the app (but won't save you from ).
“This new setting available in both chats and groups helps prevent others from taking content outside of WhatsApp when you may want extra privacy,” WhatsApp explained.
“When the setting is on, you can block others from exporting chats, auto-downloading media to their phone, and using messages for AI features.
“That way everyone in the chat has greater confidence that no one can take what is being said outside the chat.”
It'll stop people from using WhatsApp's export function to download your chat history.
That means they can't download a massive log of everything that you've been saying.
Auto-downloads for photos and videos will also be turned off, with people instead having to manually tap those items to save them.
And you won't be able to use the AI to access content shared in the chat either.
However, it does have some loopholes that you need to watch out for.
Someone can still screenshot your text conversations, or do a screen-record and scroll down.
They could also use another phone to take a picture of the screen too.
And although media won't auto-download with the setting turned on, other chatters could still manually download the photos and videos.
So it's not a totally fool-proof way to protect your messages.
“WhatsApp groups are increasingly an extension of our real world networks, some of which are far closer than others,” WhatsApp explained.
“We think this feature is best used when talking with groups where you may not know everyone closely but are nevertheless sensitive in nature.
“Like talking about health challenges in a support group or organizing your community about something important to you.”
SAFETY FIRST
The new setting is rolling out right now, so check your app for updates.
You can do that in the Apple App Store for iOS on iPhone or via the Play Store on Android.
If you don't see the new setting right away, don't panic – sometimes a feature roll-out can take a little while.
To turn the feature on, just go to the conversation, tap on the chat name, then choose Advanced Chat Privacy.
WhatsApp said that this is only the “first version” of the feature, and is “planning to add more to it”.
That means it's likely to include even more protections in the future.
