What is WhatsApp and how to use it. Add a shortcut to your desktop for individual chats. Save phone memory and disable auto-download of files

Incredible facts

Today it is almost impossible to imagine your life without applications designed for messaging.

Whatsapp is one of the most popular applications, which helps you stay in touch with friends and acquaintances.

There are many features in this application that users are not even aware of, but which can significantly improve their text communication skills.

1. Become invisible on Whatsapp .

To remove evidence that you have read messages, go to Settings - Account - Privacy - Read Receipts and uncheck the box. However, if you keep this option disabled, it may become suspicious.

Before opening a questionable chat, you can also turn on airplane mode. Now you can read messages without receiving notifications. Sign out of messages before turning off Airplane mode and the message will remain unread by the person who sent it.

2.Hide visiting hours in WhatsApp.

If you want to avoid an awkward conversation and don't want others to see when you last visited the chat, this can be easily done.

Go to Settings – Account – Privacy - Visiting time, and choose who can see when you were last active.

3. Recover deleted correspondence in whatsapp.

If you accidentally deleted messages, don't worry because there is a way to restore conversations. However, you need to anticipate the situation.

To do this, you need to set up a backup of your chats. Go to . You can then choose to back up daily, weekly or monthly. Whatsapp will only copy your chats when the phone is on.

If you accidentally deleted a message or chats, you can restore them by reinstalling this app.

4. Quote the message in whatsapp as evidence.

Instead of scrolling through hundreds of messages and taking a screenshot to prove that your friend promised to come 2 hours ago, use the quote feature.

To do this, you need to select the desired message by holding it and pressing left arrow(on Android) or the " button Answer" on iPhone to quote the desired message.

5. Make text bold, italic or strikethrough in Whatsapp.

WhatsApp is very convenient to use for many things, but like all text messages, it does not convey intonation well. You can use bold, italics, and even strikethrough for these purposes.

If you want to put emphasis on a certain word, you need to use certain keyboard shortcuts.

To make it bold, you need to put an asterisk on both sides of the word, *like this*, for italics use underscore _words_, and for strikethrough there is a wavy hyphen ~like this~. You can also combine *_bold italics_*.

6. Turn off notifications in chats on Whatsapp.

For example, you want to know what time there will be a meeting tomorrow. But this simple question turned into a three-hour conversation between the rest of the chat participants.

You can now avoid annoying notifications by selecting the chat name at the top and selecting silent mode. Click on the button Do not disturb in the upper right corner and uncheck the option Show notifications.

7. Turn off saving photos whatsappin your gallery.

All files you receive are automatically saved in your phone's gallery. If your friends are sending photos that you don't want others to see, there is a way to avoid it. For iPhone, go to Settings – Chats and disable the option Save media.

For Android, you must have a file manager installed, which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. After downloading, go to WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Images and create a file called .nomedia.

8. Save your smartphone memory from unnecessary files in WhatsApp.

When someone sends you pictures, gifs, audio and video files, they are downloaded automatically. To prevent them from clogging up your smartphone's internal memory, set it to download only the types of files you need when you connect to Wi-Fi or a mobile network.

For iOS Go to Settings – Data, where you can choose the download method. For Android, go to to find them.

9.Create a shortcut for a specific contact in whatsapp.

If you find it difficult to always look for your best friend in the general mass of WhatsApp chats, you can give preference to certain people (if you have Android). You can reduce your search time by saving shortcuts of your favorite WhatsApp contacts on your phone screen.

Click on the desired chat and in the menu (ellipsis in the upper right corner) and select " Add a shortcut", and a shortcut with the contact will appear on your phone screen.

10. Turn off sounds in WhatsApp andhide the chat from prying eyes .

There are times when you don't want anyone to see your WhatsApp messages.

11. Send private messages to many users in whatsapp .

If you want to send one message to a number of people, you don't have to create a group chat where everyone can communicate with each other. In this case, it is better to choose a newsletter.

Click on the menu button in the top right corner and select New newsletter. This will allow you to send one message to many people, creating an individual chat with each one.

12. Move your messages whatsappto another phone .

If you don't want to lose your messages if, for example, you buy a new phone, you can back up your messages.

Go to Settings – Chats – Chat backup and save a copy of messages daily, weekly or monthly. When you access WhatsApp from a new phone, the messages will be transferred to the new device.

13. Easily find important messages in whatsapp.

Many people know the feeling of having to scroll through several hundred messages to find a message about the desired address or meeting time. But there is an easier way to do this.

Long press the message you want and tap the icon stars.

You can now view all flagged messages in the menu where you will find the option Featured Posts.

14. Find out when your message has been read (checkmarks in WhatsApp).

Long press on the message you sent and tap the " icon info". A window will open where you will see who read and who received the message with the specified time when it happened.

15. Keep your Whatsapp group chat private.

If you don't want friends of friends you've never met but are in a group chat with viewing your personal information, you can make the necessary changes.

You can restrict access to your profile photo and personal status by going to Settings – Account – Privacy, and selecting the desired options.

16. Mark unread chat on Whatsapp.

Let's say you can't respond to a message right now, but you don't want to risk your friendship with the person. You can set a visual reminder that you have messages to respond to.

This can be done in the chat list, by highlighting the chat and marking it as unread.

17. Send a voice message on Whatsapp.

Instead of dictating a message, you can use the virtual assistant Siri (for iPhone) to control WhatsApp without having to pick up your phone. To do this, you must have the latest version of WhatsApp installed, where you can say: " Hey Siri. Send WhatsApp to mom".

You can also read messages using Siri by saying: " Hey Siri. Read the latest WhatsApp messages" and you will hear the latest unread messages.

For Android users, use OK Google by asking " send WhatsApp to (name)".

18. Make a video call to whatsapp .

To make a video call, open a contact and click on the video icon.

19. Draw on photos or add emojis on WhatsApp.

Take a photo in the app, then use the various tools at the top of the screen to draw on the photo, add emoji, or text.

20. Turn videos into GIFs on Whatsapp.

WhatsApp already has a large gallery of GIFs that you can send to friends and acquaintances in messages. If you don't find the GIF you need, you can convert your own videos to GIF format. Click on the photo and video gallery icon, select the video and click the GIF button in the upper right corner.

They will be useful for comfortable communication.

The messenger with a multimillion-dollar audience keeps many secrets and non-obvious functions that are sometimes so needed. Let's figure out what else the WhatsApp application is hiding.

Saving favorite photos

By default, WhatsApp saves all photos received during a conversation to the iPhone Gallery. And if your interlocutor likes to exchange new pictures, there is a risk that the device’s memory will very soon be full. To prevent this from happening, disable autosaving of photos.

How to disable: Open Settings – Chats Media.

Sending your current location

How to send your location: In dialogue mode, click on the arrow icon, select My location and tap on the item Send current position. Your interlocutor will receive a map diagram with exact coordinates.

Message status and exact delivery history

WhatsApp messenger provides notification About sending, About delivery And About reading messages. One “bird” means the message has been sent, the second means it has been delivered, two blue birds mean the message has been read.

To see the exact delivery and reading time, simply touch a specific message and drag it from right to left. A detailed status history will open.

Disabling read receipts

If you don't want your interlocutor to see that you have read messages but are not responding to them, you need to turn off read notifications.

It's easy to do: open Settings – Account – Privacy and turn off the slider next to the item Read receipts.

Disable last login time

In WhatsApp, you can disable another important point - displaying the exact application login time. Every time you launch WhatsApp, the status “was yesterday at 00:00” is updated. If desired, this can be disabled.

How to disable: Open Settings – Account – Was(es) and select Nobody. At the same time, you will still be able to see who and when visited the messenger among your contacts.

How to turn off notifications from a user

There are situations when it is not easy to calm down an emotional friend. He sends messages one after another, and you simply do not have the opportunity to respond. Vibration or notification sounds every 10–20 seconds can lead to a nervous breakdown. The solution is to turn it off.

How to disable: Open a dialog window with the user and tap on his name. Select an item Do not disturb and choose how long you won't receive notifications: 8 hours, 1 week, or a year.

How much memory did WhatsApp eat?

The constant exchange of messages, photos and media content turns WhatsApp into a real glutton, the main delicacy of which is the memory of your smartphone.

Where to find out the memory status: Open Settings – Account – Storage and tap on the tab Volume. In construction sites Overall volume The total amount of space occupied by the application will be displayed.

How to delete messages

In dialogue mode, you can get rid of messages that have become old history and simply take up free space.

How to do: Open the dialog and tap on any message and hold your finger until the context menu appears. Select Delete and mark those messages that you are ready to say goodbye to. After making your selection, click on the trash can icon. Radical cleaning method - delete everything.

How to delete all conversations

Active WhatsApp users know that dozens of dialogues from a convenient communication tool sooner or later turn into a real problem. It is possible to delete all dialogs at once.

How to do: Open a tab Chats. In the top left corner, select Change and tap on the item delete everything. You will be required to provide your phone number for confirmation.

WhatsApp on computer

The messenger developers categorically refuse to release a full-fledged standalone WhatsApp application for desktop PCs. As an alternative, a web version of the client is offered, which runs at web.whatsapp.com.

How to turn it on: Open web.whatsapp.com from your computer. When you see the QR code, open WhatsApp on your smartphone and send it to Settings – WhatsApp Web – Scan QR code. Point your smartphone camera at the QR code displayed on the screen of your computer or laptop. You will be logged in immediately.

Formatting messages

Not an obvious feature, but you can use multiple formatting styles when sending messages. Italics, fatty and crossed out

How to do: The word you want to highlight italics, highlight the two sides with the “_” symbol. To highlight bold, also enclose the word in "*". Use the "~" symbol to strikethrough.

Victoria Sudakova

Whatsapp has quickly grown from a small startup to one of the most popular messaging applications in the world, with more than a billion users.

Many users use the messenger every day and are not even aware of the little tricks hidden in it.

Top 15 Hidden Whatsapp Features

Send messages to multiple people without their knowledge

On the top left side of whatsapp, in the "chat" menu, there is a rarely used feature called "mailing lists". The feature allows you to send the same message to multiple contacts at the same time without creating a group chat.

Thus, we send each mailing list member a private message.

Bold, italic, strikethrough

You can format the text in whatsapp messages by adding symbols before and after the word.

For a bold test, you need to put asterisks before the word/phrase and after the word/phrase.

For italics you need to put an underscore, and for strikethrough text you need to put a tilde ~.

Symbols can be combined.

Find out your frequent interlocutor

You can recognize the person you correspond with most often. To do this (iOS only), go to Settings -> Account -> Memory Usage. Here you will see a list of people and groups, whatsapp messages, and the total number of interactions you have had with that person/group.

Reduce the amount of data used by whatsapp

To limit the app's background data, you need to go to Settings -> network data usage -> whatsapp

In the data usage menu, you can limit the data volume of WhatsApp and allow the messenger to download images, audio, videos and documents only if your phone is connected to Wi-Fi.

Disable notifications

If you have a group chat that constantly bothers you with frequent notifications, you can turn off notifications for that chat. To do this, go to the chat and click on the group name -> disconnect -> select the amount of time. You can also turn off notifications and private messages.

Control what data users can see

If you've ever been added to a group chat, then you know that each of them can go to your profile and see the information they are interested in, and they will also know when you were online.

To avoid this, you can go to settings -> account -> privacy and restrict access. So, only users saved in your phone book will see information about you.

Send documents

You can now send documents directly to WhatsApp chat from Google Drive and iCloud.

To do this, click the “attach document” icon -> select where to get the document from (Google Drive and iCloud).

As soon as you receive a message, do not open it, turn on airplane mode, which blocks free Wi-Fi and mobile data, open WhatsApp to read the message in full. We read, close completely, exit the application, turn off airplane mode. The job is done, the message is read, the interlocutor does not know about it.

Disable auto-saving files on your smartphone

If your device's memory is clogged with files sent by your friends on WhatsApp, then the problem with automatic saving is very easy to solve. To do this, you need to go to settings -> chats -> disable saving incoming media.

Add dates to calendar

If you send a date or time in a message (only available on iOS), the date will appear in blue and underlined. By clicking on the hyperlink, you can create an event on your calendar. The function works if you write specific dates, for example Tuesday the 17th, and not just Tuesday.

Add a shortcut to your desktop for individual chats

For ease of communication, you can add a chat shortcut to your desktop. To do this, press and hold on the conversation you are interested in, then select Add Conversation Shortcut from the drop-down menu. A pen pal icon will appear on your desktop (available on Android only).

For iOS, you can enable the Quick Reply feature by downloading a third-party app.

Use WhatsApp on your computer

You can send and receive whatsapp messages on your computer through the online version of whatsapp or through the desktop application.

To use the online version of the messenger, follow the link web.whatsapp.com, then go to the settings on your phone and enable the whatsapp web client. Scan the QR code displayed on the monitor screen using your phone camera. Online versions will only work if your phone remains turned on, connected to Wi-Fi, and close to the computer.

If you want the messenger to work on your computer constantly, you need to download a third-party application.

Send messages to yourself on WhatsApp

With the online version of WhatsApp, you can easily exchange files between your phone and computer by sending them to yourself in messages.

The easiest way to message yourself is to create a conversation with a friend, then remove that friend from the conversation. Then connect your phone to your computer using the QR code in the online version of WhatsApp and send the file from your phone, so it appears in correspondence and on your computer.

Message Confidentiality

To protect your messages from prying eyes, go to settings -> notifications -> turn off previews.

You can also set whatsapp password through a third party app like applock for android.

Send a giant heart

If you send a red heart emoji to a friend, it will appear as a giant beating heart.

The developers of one of the most popular instant messengers today are not sitting idly by, but are improving the stability of their products and developing new functions, some of which will become an integral part of communication. One of the most common messengers is WhatsApp. Let's take a closer look at the new features.

Send a message from Notification Center

Having appeared a couple of years ago, the notification center has become an integral part of all mobile operating systems. It allows you to quickly access the most important functions. WhatsApp relatively recently expanded the capabilities of the notification center.

Many people use this operating system feature to view the message. However, to respond, you had to launch the application and open the chat window. Whatsapp allows you to reply to a message directly in the notification center, which significantly speeds up the process. To respond from the notification center itself:

• Press the key "Reply".
• Enter a message. It is possible to add an emoticon.

This way you can respond to a message in just a few seconds.

The function will only work with the latest update of the messenger and operating system. Time will tell how comfortable it is.

Additional contact action menu

Another quite important change is that when you click on the profile picture, a menu of additional functions appears. Previously, this menu could only be opened by long pressing on the contact itself.

The new feature allows you to quickly edit your book, since in the drop-down menu you can select several contacts or group chats, apply a common action, label, and so on to all.

This feature is not a major innovation, but it makes life much easier for those who use inexpensive devices with a touch screen, which, when the temperature drops or other conditions, does not respond well to prolonged touches. After all, now the menu opens simply by clicking on a certain area.

In conclusion, we note that all the newest features can be found in the version of the messenger, which is undergoing beta testing. Similar versions can be found on the developers. When installing it, it is worth remembering that there is a possibility of unstable operation of the messenger and the occurrence of errors, since the application is at the testing stage.

Messengers have replaced SMS, phone conversations, and for some people even live communication. According to recent studies, 60-70 million people use messengers in Russia.

We examined the most popular instant messengers - Viber and WhatsApp - up and down and found useful functions in them that almost no one uses. Our material is about them.

Lifehacks that work on both WhatsApp and Viber

Hide from other users when you were in the messenger and looked at their messages

Don't you like it when your activity in applications is visible to others? Do you want to ignore other people's messages without a subsequent showdown? Turn on stealth mode.

"Whatsapp" Go to Settings > Account > Privacy. Choose who should see your last visit time, photo, and status. Here you can turn off read receipts. But keep in mind that you will also stop seeing when they read your messages.

"Viber" In Viber, go to Settings > Privacy. Here you can disable the “Online” status and message read notifications (you will also lose this feature).

Chat via messengers on your computer

If you very actively use instant messengers, then a smartphone often becomes not enough. You will find their desktop versions useful. Still, typing with ten fingers is much faster than with two.

"Whatsapp" WhatsApp's web version is implemented simply and elegantly: go to web.whatsapp.com > open the application on your smartphone > on an iPhone go to settings, on an Android device in the menu > then go to WhatsApp Web > scan the QR code.

"Viber" With Viber it’s more complicated: you need to install its program on your computer. But through Viber Desktop, as well as from the application, you can make audio and video calls.

Don’t fill your device’s memory with photos and videos from instant messengers

It is unknown what motivated the creators of instant messengers, but by default, media files from chats are saved in the general photo stream of the smartphone. This strange setting is especially loved by spammers who send out business card pictures. Luckily, it's easy to turn it off.

On WhatsApp open Settings > Chats and deactivate the “Save” item. entrance. files".

In Viber find Settings> Multimedia> turn off “Save to gallery”.

Send chats to your email

On WhatsApp chats are sent separately. Go to the desired conversation, tap the contact or group name (on iOS) or the menu (on Android) and click “Send by E-mail”. Specify whether you want to forward files from the chat.

In Viber all chats are sent at once, but only the text part. You can find this feature in Settings > Calls and messages > Send message log.

Life hacks only for WhatsApp

Turn off notifications from annoying interlocutors and groups

Tap the contact name or group name and click “Do not disturb.” Choose a period to ignore.

Add an important contact to your home screen

This can only be done on Android devices. Go to the desired chat, press the menu button and select “Add shortcut”.

See when the interlocutor received and read the message

A slightly paranoid function allows you to see when the message arrived to the interlocutor and when he deigned to read it. On iOS, this information appears if you move the desired cloud to the left. On Android, you need to hold your finger on the message, and then press the letter “i” at the top.

Write to yourself

It's always nice to correspond with an interesting person. In addition, autochat can be used to save photos, links, messages, audio notes, that is, as a notebook.

Add messages to favorites

If you need a message in the future, add it to your favorites. Touch and hold the desired cloud, then tap the star. On iOS, favorite messages can be found in two places: everything is stored in general settings; from a specific contact - in his profile. On Android, tagged messages are stored in one place: Chats > Menu > Favorite messages.

Set individual notifications to important contacts

To highlight messages from important interlocutors in the general notification stream, set a specific sound for them. Inside the chat, tap on the contact’s name and go to “Notifications”. Choose your favorite message sound.