Less than two days after it sold to Facebook, the social network that is notoriously known for having major issues with privacy, WhatsApp released a new version for Android that allows users more granular control over their status, profile photo and last seen date and time — almost as if to prove to everyone that the Facebook acquisition won’t impact their work.
Version 2.11.169 is now available on the company’s website — where small releases are usually seeded before they hit the Play Store — and it adds this major privacy option that iPhone users have had for a while. You can manually download the .apk and install it, it will simply apply as an update to your existing WhatsApp app, leaving all your data intact.
Three options have been added under Settings / Account / Privacy, and they include the ability to set who can see your Last Seen, Profile Photo and Status. Each of these can be picked among 3 choices:
- Everyone: anyone who has your phone number and has you as a WhatsApp contact will be able to see it.
- My Contacts: only the contacts whose phone number you have and who appear in your contact list will see it.
- Nobody: just you.
WhatsApp’s new Privacy settings give you more granular control.
Keep in mind, however, that even though you might be able to deny access to your Last Seen time to people, that does not affect the Online status. This means that they will still be able to see you when you are Online, but after a minute of you closing the app, instead of having your Last Seen time displayed, they will have a blank space.
While the Last Seen / Online confusion is not ideal to say the least, it is a step in the right direction along with the Status and Photo privacy settings. And don’t forget that you still have the option to completely block offenders if they start getting worrisome.
Via r/android
