Users need to install the latest version of WhatsApp to get this new feature
If you want to activate the new feature, you have to enable the option from your WhatsApp settings
Popular instant messaging platform WhatsApp has rolled out a plethora of new features this year. One of the most useful of them is WhatsApp’s new group privacy feature. From now, users on WhatsApp can choose on which group he/she wants to get added to.
Till now, anyone can add you to a group and if you don’t want to be a part of that group, the only option you have is to leave. But the popular messaging application has recently announced that users will have more control over ‘WhatsApp groups’.
Users need to install the latest version of WhatsApp to get this new feature. For Android, it is version 2.19.308 and for iPhone, it is 2.19.112. The update is available on both Google Play Store for Android users and App Store for iPhone users.
How to use it
If you want to activate the new feature, you have to enable the option which lets you control your group privacy settings on WhatsApp. First, go to “Settings” option and then tap on ‘Account’. Then, click on the “Privacy” and select “Group” option. There will be three options to choose from: “Everyone”,”My Contacts” or “My Contacts Except”. You can select the option according to preference.
“My Contact” option will only allow your contacts to add you in any group. “My Contacts Except” means you will be asked for an approval before joining any group.
If you select ‘My Contacts Except’, an admin can’t add you to any random group available on WhatsApp. Admin needs to send you a private invite through an individual chat giving you the choice of joining the group. You will have three days to accept the invite before it expires, says WhatsApp in a press release.
It must be noted “My Contacts Except” option will allow you to choose to exclude specific contacts or “select all”.
