New WhatsApp button makes it easier to silence irritating groups

3 years ago 1

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WhatsApp is working on adding a “Mute notifications” shortcut in group chats, WABetaInfo reports.

The tool will make it easier for users to quickly silence large chats for which they don’t want to receive constant updates, or unsilence them when they want to get notifications again.

On the desktop version of WhatsApp, the new shortcut will appear as a bell icon next to the search button in the chat header.

At this stage, it is unclear what happens after the user clicks the bell icon, as the feature is still under development.

The screenshot below from WABetaInfo shows what the in-development “Mute notifications” button looks like on the desktop version of WhatsApp.

As it stands, users on desktop and mobile have to click the three-dot button at the top right of the chat header and navigate to “Mute notifications.”

They must then select for how long they want to silence notifications from the group — with options being 8 hours, one week, or always.

WhatsApp is evidently trying to ensure its expanding support for larger groups doesn’t irritate users.

In addition to allowing for one overarching group with various sub-groups as part of the Communities update, WhatsApp has increased the maximum number of group participants from 256 to 1,024 over the past few months.

That has made it more convenient to use WhatsApp groups for communication between larger interest groups — like for a neighbourhood watch with many residents.

However, it will also increase the likelihood of getting spammed with irrelevant notifications.

Having the ability to quickly switch these on and off as needed will undoubtedly improve the user experience.

The WhatsApp for Android beta also recently added a setting allowing users to automatically disable notifications for large groups.