14 DAY TRIAL // WhatsApp seems to be working non-stop on refining the experience with the app on both Android and iPhone, and the beta builds that the company releases to testers are a great way to find out in advance what exactly it’s planning on this front.
One of the latest beta versions, for example, comes with new options specifically aimed at iPhone users who want more advanced controls over their privacy settings.
More specifically, WABetaInfo has noticed that WhatsApp added new options in the privacy section, allowing users to set new rules for specific contacts.
The whole thing works in a pretty straightforward manner.
First and foremost, the new features are currently aimed at the last seen info and the profile photo. Right now, if you want to configure privacy settings for the two, you can allow everyone to see these details, only your contacts, or block absolutely all people from reading them.
Settings currently in the beta stage
In a future update for iOS devices, WhatsApp will introduce a new option called “My Contacts Except,” which essentially allows you to define the contacts that wouldn’t be able to read the last seen info and see your profile picture.
This means that you can set special rules for each contact, so for example, you can choose to let everyone see your private information by default but then block just a specific person in your phonebook from doing the same thing.
At this point, however, these settings are still in the beta stage, as WhatsApp just wants to make sure everything is working as planned. There’s no ETA as to when they could be released to everybody, but given the beta testing has already started, it shouldn’t take too long for the update to go live for iPhone users out there.