WhatsApp - page 4

How to save and print your iMessages and WhatsApps

By

Get your freshly-printed WhatsApps here.
Get your freshly-printed WhatsApps here.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Yes, this sounds like a joke about the olde worlde CEO who has his secretary print his emails, then transcribe his dictated replies. But printing message threads can be pretty useful. Lawyers, for example, may want a printed record, or a PDF, of a message thread. And even regular humans might appreciate a well-formatted archive of their messages that can be easily searched and marked up.

You still can’t do this on your iDevice. However, thanks to the amazing iMazing Mac app, you can quickly create PDFs of your messages, and even print them. Onto paper.

Zuckerberg explains benefits of WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger merger

By

facebook-logo-file
It won’t happen until 2020 at the earliest.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed plans to merge WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger — but says it probably won’t happen until 2020 at the earliest.

In a fourth-quarter earnings call this week, Zuckerberg also explained the reasons behind the plan, such as increased security with end-to-end encryption. Many questions still remain unanswered, however.

Facebook could merge WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger by 2020

By

Facebook messaging apps
Mark Zuckerberg was to integrate Facebook-owned, Instagram, WhatsApp and messenger.
Photo: Facebook

Facebook will merge its messaging apps, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, by 2020 under a new plan ordered by CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Under the plan, the three apps will remain separate but integration would allow an Instagram user to directly chat with someone on Messenger.

How to share photos safely with Shortcuts

By

Removing geodata won’t always protect a photo’s location
Removing geodata won’t always protect a photo’s location
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Did you know that every photo you send via iMessage, or other messaging services like WhatsApp, contains all that photo’s location data? If you snap a picture in your home, anyone who’s receives that photo will be able to see where you took it on a map.

The same goes for uploading images to online auction sites, or internet forums. The good news is that it’s easy to sanitize your images with Shortcuts.

WhatsApp finally adds support for stickers

By

WhatsApp stickers
It's time to upgrade if you haven't already.
Photo: WhatsApp

WhatsApp is one of the biggest messaging platforms on the planet, and it has somehow gone without support for stickers — until now!

Some users now have the ability to send and receive stickers, and the rest will be able to enjoy the same functionality on both Android and iOS in the coming weeks. A selection of sticker packs from WhatsApp own designers are available, and third-party packs are coming soon.

WhatsApp notifications just got a lot better on iPhone

By

Facebook messaging apps
Coming soon to an iPhone near you?
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

WhatsApp is finally giving iPhone users media previews inside their notifications.

When you receive an image or a GIF, you’ll have the option to view it without having to unlock your phone and open WhatsApp. The new feature can be disabled if you don’t like it, however.

WhatsApp brings group video calling to Android and iOS

By

WhatsApp group calls
Enjoy group calls on WhatsApp today.
Photo: WhatsApp

WhatsApp’s new group video calling feature is now available to users on Android and iOS.

Users can chat with up to three others simultaneously, regardless of their location. WhatsApp says the feature has been designed to work even over unreliable network connections, so you have no excuse not to stay in touch.

WhatsApp is bringing media previews to iOS notifications

By

WhatsApp on iOS
WhatsApp users have been waiting for better notifications.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

WhatsApp notifications on iOS are about to get a lot more useful.

The popular messaging service is now testing media previews that let users view images and even animated GIFs before opening a message. Today’s update has also added the ability to use Siri to send messages to groups.

WhatsApp’s newest feature fixes group chat notification chaos

By

WhatsApp group notifications
The WhatsApp dream might one day come true.
Photo: WhatsApp

WhatsApp’s group chat function can be incredibly useful for all kinds of things. But when a bunch of people are talking, your phone gets bombarded with notifications and they suddenly become unbearable.

WhatsApp’s newest feature hopes to fix that by allowing only selected people to send messages.

WhatsApp confirms plans to drop support for iOS 7

By

Facebook messaging apps
Coming soon to an iPhone near you?
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

WhatsApp has confirmed plans to drop support for iOS 7.

The hugely popular messaging service, owned by Facebook, will continue to work for a little while yet. However, WhatsApp warns that it is no longer actively developing for iOS 7, and certain features could stop working at any time.

WhatsApp takes on Apple Pay Cash with peer-to-peer payments

By

WhatsApp on iPhone
Don’t ignore the latest WhatsApp releases.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

WhatsApp plans to take on Apple Pay Cash with a peer-to-peer payments system of its own.

Powered by UPI, the service is expected to rollout to users as early as next week following a beta test. It could launch with just three banking partners initially as WhatsApp races to compete with rival payments services.

WhatsApp bug lets blocked contacts send messages

By

Facebook messaging apps
Coming soon to an iPhone near you?
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

A new WhatsApp bug allows blocked contacts to continue sending messages, view online status, and see profile pictures. The problem appears to be on the server side, but WhatsApp is yet to confirm a fix or even acknowledge its existence.

WhatsApp makes big improvements to group messaging

By

WhatsApp
You’ll need a new iPhone if you can’t update to iOS 8 or later.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

WhatsApp is rolling out big improvements to group messaging that make it easier to manage your conversations, catch up on what you’ve missed, and more. It has also added enhanced controls for group admins.

Here’s what you have to look forward to on iPhone today.

Facebook spies on your messages to make sure you’re being good

By

And you thought all those Facebook messages were secret. Sucker!
And you thought all those messages were private. Sucker!
Photo: kropekk_pl/Pixabay CC

Just when you thought Facebook couldn’t be more intrusive, the company has confirmed that it keeps an eye on our Messenger conversations to make sure we’re being good.

Messages you send are scanned to ensure they abide by Facebook’s rules — and if they don’t, they won’t be delivered.

WhatsApp co-founder: Delete Facebook, regain your privacy

By

Facebook
Should you delete Facebook? WhatsApp co-creator Brian Acton says yes.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Facebook is having a bad time right now. Despite being the world’s most popular social media network, a growing number of people are calling on users to delete their Facebook profiles. This follows the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal, involving the acquisition of data associated with 50 million Facebook profiles.

The latest person who thinks you should cut the Zuckerberg cord? Brian Acton, the co-founder of WhatsApp, which was bought by Facebook for a massive $16 billion back in 2014.

This great iOS Spotlight trick lets you know everything about a person

By

spotlight contact search
Several spotlights.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Somewhere after the launch of iOS 11, Apple tweaked Spotlight search to be way more useful. Now, when you search for a person, you can trigger a sub-search that lets you find everything you have on them, from emails, to iMessages, to their contact details, through WhatsApp messages, to calendar events. Anywhere that your selected contact exists on your iPhone or iPad will show up in the list.

And then, you can narrow the results with a sub search.

How to mute iMessage threads, and spot those you accidentally silenced

By

shhh mute iMessage
Shut those annoying conversations up right now.
Photo: Shawn Rossi/Flickr CC

Have you ever had your regular (important) iMessages swamped by a flurry of notifications for that inane group conversations about matcha-flavored KitKats? Or maybe you want to keep your iPad’s notifications switched on, but you want to mute iMessages from your boss until Monday, because she has no concept of boundaries?

If so, you need iMessage’s handy conversation-muting feature. It’s so easy to use that you may have turned it on by mistake. If you’re no longer getting alerts for certain messages, you may want to check this, too.

This post contains affiliate links. Cult of Mac may earn a commission when you use our links to buy items.