Whatsapp Group Calls Now Let You Mute and Message Individual Participants

Group calls via WhatsApp will now be more manageable as the Meta-owned messaging platform rolled out new updates.

WhatsApp will now allow users to mute or message specific individuals on a group call. This is according to a tweet of Will Cathcart, Head of WhatsApp at Meta.

"Some new features for group calls on @WhatsApp: You can now mute or message specific people on a call (great if someone forgets to mute themselves!), and we've added a helpful indicator so you can more easily see when more people join large calls," the tweet stated.

Some new features for group calls on @WhatsApp: You can now mute or message specific people on a call (great if someone forgets to mute themselves!), and we've added a helpful indicator so you can more easily see when more people join large calls. pic.twitter.com/fxAUCAzrsy
— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) June 16, 2022

WhatsApp Windows Native App Finally Releases — How About for Apple macOS Users? — A picture taken on March 23, 2022 in Moscow shows the US instant messaging software Whatsapp logo on a smartphone screen. AFP via Getty Images

New Features of WhatsApp for Group Calls

The new feature is useful in circumstances where a person is not aware that he is not on mute.

According to Android Central, WABetaInfo said that the option to mute a person on a group call is "not just limited to the person who made the call." Even if you are not the one who made the call, you would also be able to mute anyone during a call.

It is relatively easy to mute others on WhatsApp. You just have to select the particular individual during the call. Afterwards, you'll see an option either to mute or send an individual message to the participant.

Another feature added by WhatsApp is the banner or an indicator that will notify participants when someone joins a group call. This is particularly useful during large meetings.

WhatsApp released new abilities to its groups not long ago. With the new abilities, you can add up to 32 people on a single call. Similarly, another ability included is adding up to 512 people in a single group. This is a relevant increase from the previous 256 members.

New Privacy Features of WhatsApp

Aside from the new features for group calls, the messaging platform also rolled out new privacy features. In a tweet, WhatsApp made the announcement.

"To further protect your privacy online, we're rolling out new options to your privacy control settings. Now you can select who from your contact list can see your Profile Photo, About, and Last Seen status," WhatsApp tweeted.

🔒 To further protect your privacy online, we’re rolling out new options to your privacy control settings 🔒

Now you can select who from your contact list can see your Profile Photo, About, and Last Seen status. For more information follow this link: https://t.co/UGMCx2n70h
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) June 15, 2022

With the new privacy features, "users can now select individuals from their contacts list and choose to either allow or block them from seeing their profile photo, about section, and last seen status," according to Android Central.

If you want to hide from businesses, banking accounts, or rather annoying people on WhatsApp, the new feature is quite convenient.

WhatsApp have rolled out the new features to iOS and Android users. Make sure that you have the latest version of the app so you can enable the features on your WhatsApp accounts soon.

In addition to the newly rolled out features, WhatsApp finally announced the ability for Android users to transfer their chat histories to iPhone earlier this week.

This new announcement was made "after the company initially started letting users transfer their conversation data in the opposite direction, from iPhone to Android, last year," according to The Verge.