Now On, You Cannot Be Added To WhatsApp Groups Without Your Permission: Know How

Family group, cousins’ group, office group, school friend’s group, college friends’ group, ex-colleague group, colony group, parents group- the list is long, exhausting and unending.

Most of us are a part of more than a dozen such unwanted WhatsApp groups wherein we are added without any prior information. Well, no more will be the case as the messenger service provider is coming up with a feature under which we would be able to save ourselves from being added to groups without our permission.

The buzz is that WhatsApp is working on a new feature which will give users more control over groups in which they can be added. This feature is currently being tested on the iOS beta version of WhatsApp.

WhatsApp recently started the beta programme for iOS. Interested users can download the Test Flight app and join WhatsApp’s beta programme.

Let’s understand how the new feature will prevent you from being added to groups without your permission:

• On opening WhatsApp window, go to Settings> Accounts>Privacy.
• Once the new feature is live, you can see an icon of Groups under About.
• Once you select Groups, a drop down will give you three options to choose from.
• Users can select ‘Everyone’ if they wish to be added to groups by just anyone on WhatsApp. Similarly ‘My Contacts’ will allow only your contacts to add them to groups. If you choose ‘Nobody,’ then a request will be sent by the admin to join the WhatsApp group has an expiry time of 72 hours after which it will be deleted.

The new feature is expected to come in handy as our WhatsApp windows are increasingly becoming cluttered with unwanted groups. While exiting the group is an option available, the action often leads to awkwardness and a host of questions.

At present, the mute option is another feature that comes as a boon. The groups can be muted for 8 hours, 1 week or a year and disable notifications altogether.