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WhatsApp - page 5

WhatsApp’s newest feature fixes group chat notification chaos

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

WhatsApp now gives you more time to delete accidental messages

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

WhatsApp’s latest update give users more time to delete accidental messages after they’ve been sent.

Its message deletion feature, introduced last October, previously gave us just seven minutes to undo a potential mess. Now the “delete for everyone” option is available for just over an hour.

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

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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

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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.

You’ll soon be able to post Instagram stories to WhatsApp

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Instagram
Instagram makes sharing Stories simpler.
Photo: Instagram

Instagram is testing a feature that allows users to share their stories directly to WhatsApp.

They appear as WhatsApp status updates, and just like on Instagram, they’re visible for 24 hours. It seems only a small number of users have access to the feature for now.

Instagram might spin off messaging into separate app

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Instagram comment threads
Messages are moving to a separate app.
Photo: Instagram

Instagram users may soon get a second app dedicated solely to messaging other people on Instagram.

The new direct messaging app is called Direct and could be Instagram’s first move towards removing messaging from the main photo-sharing app.

WhatsApp now supports picture-in-picture, plays YouTube

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

WhatsApp for iPhone just got a big update that makes it easier than ever to keep your conversations flowing.

The world’s most popular messaging app now supports picture-in-picture video playback, and plays YouTube videos without sending you to another app.

How to delete WhatsApp messages you already sent

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WhatsApp unsend delete
WhatsApp now lets you unsend messages.
Photo: Cult of Mac

WhatsApp, one of the world’s most popular messaging apps, now lets you unsend messages — albeit with a time limit. And not just on your phone, either. If you delete a message, it will be removed from the conversation for anyone who is participating.

That’s great news for folks who are prone to sending messages to groups instead of individuals, or who decide that a late-night photo drunk-texted to the boss was less of a bonding moment and more of a potential-firing moment. Here’s how to undelete your messages in WhatsApp.

WhatsApp’s new emojis look a whole lot like Apple’s

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emojis
Spot the difference.
Photo: Emojipedia

WhatsApp is introducing its own emoji — and, boy, do they look a whole lot like the Apple ones that it previously relied on!

The designs are not out-and-out copies, but they look very similar when the two are not placed side by side. Subtle differences include the fact that WhatsApp’s versions of the images look slightly more cartoonish in design, while incidental changes have been made — such as the switch of the water pistol from being green in color to orange.

WhatsApp just crossed a staggering milestone

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

Over 1 billion people around the world are using WhatsApp every single day.

The insanely popular messaging service, which was acquired by Facebook in 2014, is now processing over 55 billion messages, 4.5 billion photos, and 1 billion videos per day.

Layton’s Mystery Journey, Clips, and other awesome apps of the week

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Awesome Apps
'Appy weekend everyone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A brilliant, sumptuously animated point-and-click mystery game is just one of the great App Store picks we’ve highlighted for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup.

We’ve also selected two major updates to big messaging apps, and a new “must have” app for Nintendo Switch owners. Check out our choices below.

WhatsApp will let you watch YouTube videos within chats

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

WhatsApp is working to add inline YouTube support to its app, allowing users to enjoy videos within their conversations. The feature will take advantage of the Picture in Picture feature in recent versions of iOS to prevent pulling you away from your conversation.

WhatsApp brings expanded file sharing, chat pinning to iPhone

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

WhatsApp just rolled out a big update on iPhone that makes the world’s most popular messaging service even more useful.

Users can now pin chats to the top of their conversation list to make them easier to find, and share files of any kind with their friends and colleagues.

SEGA Forever, Twist, and awesome apps of the week

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Awesome Apps
'Appy weekend everyone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

SEGA unleashed some of its classic games for free on iOS this week, bringing a plethora of games from the Genesis era to the iPhone and iPad as part of its SEGA Forever series.

That’s just one of the picks we’ve highlighted for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup. We’ve also got a great Slack alternative, a nifty WhatsApp upgrade, and a puzzle game that’s sure to appeal to anyone who loves Tetris. Check out our choices below.

WhatsApp adds capability to share any file type

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

Everyone’s using WhatsApp these days, which makes it an ideal platform for quickly sharing files with friends and colleagues. And it just got even better at doing that, because you can now use WhatsApp to share any file type.