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08th Nov 2019

New WhatsApp update stops people adding you to pointless group chats

Jade Hayden

Ah, g’wan.

We all know and understand the bane of WhatsApp.

You’re in there, you’re chatting away, you’re having a lovely time – and then boom, you’re added to a group chat that you neither consented nor wanted to be in.

It’s a harrowing situation to be in, especially when the group chat in question is concerning your sister’s friend’s mother’s 60th party that you don’t really want to go to anyway but sort of have to regardless.

The group chat is hoppin’. It’s painful. It’s horrible. Muting it simply isn’t enough because you’re still getting that awful red notification telling you that you’ve got messages to read.

It’s hell – and you don’t simply wish you could leave, you wish you had never entered in the first place.

Now though, it appears as if WhatsApp’s latest update will allow users to do just that: decide whether they want to be in a group chat in the first place, before they’re automatically thrown in there.

Class.

The feature was offered to a limited number of users earlier this year on a trial basis, but today it’s officially become available to everybody. As long as you update the app, obviously.

Once you’ve updated the app, you just need to open ‘settings’, ‘account’, ‘privacy’ and then ‘groups’.

You’ll then be able to choose who is permitted to add you to groups – whether it be everybody, your contacts, or nobody.

No more non-consensual group chats.

Delightful news for all involved.

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Topics:

Tech,WhatsApp