If you’re part of a lot of groups on WhatsApp or if you have contacts that you don’t want to be notified when they send a message, the mute button comes in handy. But the longest time that you could mute chats was just one year. Now the Facebook-owned messaging app is testing out a feature on the beta version where you can mute the notifications forever, or until you turn it back on. The beta update also includes a new Storage Usage UI, and Media Guidelines for when you’re editing media. But something seems to be missing, although we don’t know if it’s a bug or it’s deliberate.
Probably the most important new thing in this beta update is the new “Always” mute feature that joins the other mute options. Basically what it does is forever mute that group chat or even a specific contact so you will not receive notifications every time there’s a new message. It replaces the “one-year” option and so now you have “Always” after 8 hours and 1 week. In case you want the notifications back, you’ll have to manually turn it on.
WABetaInfo shares some of the other new features that WhatsApp beta users will be able to enjoy. There’s a new Storage Usage UI which will give you a more granular look at which items or type of files are taking up space on your device. It suggests you delete the large files and forwarded files that you don’t really need. This joins the previous feature where you can view your storage consumption per chat.
There’s another new feature called Media Guidelines which lets you align stickers and text when you’re editing images, videos, and GIFs. But one thing that seems to be missing is the Voice and Video call button on Verified Business accounts. You can’t see it in chats or in the Contact Info. If you tap the profile icon, then you’ll see it. There is now news if this is just a bug or if they’re planning something else when they roll out the stable version.
Again, all these new features (and missing features are part of the update to the WhatsApp Beta version. If you’re not getting them yet, just wait for the update to roll out to you.
