WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.9.27: what's new?
WhatsApp is rolling out a new update through the Google Play Beta Program, bringing the version up to 2.24.9.27.
What's new in this update? WhatsApp is working on a feature to hide groups in communities, and it will be available in a future update!
| Common questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Name of the feature? | Group visibility |
| Status? | Under development |
| Availability? | WhatsApp is working on bringing a feature to manage group visibility to a future update of the app. |
| I've installed this update but I don't have this feature. Why? | This feature is under development so it's not ready for beta testers, but it is possible to discover a preview in this article. |
| Previous news? | Mark Zuckerberg announced new WhatsApp video calling on Ray-Ban Meta glasses! |
GROUP VISIBILITY
In the article about the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.9.20 update, we announced that WhatsApp is currently rolling out an event feature for community group chats. Through this enhancement, community members can create reminders regarding certain events, allowing other participants in the community group chat to review and accept them. It appears that WhatsApp is exploring additional group settings to enhance the user experience with communities by developing new features for the future. Specifically, thanks to the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.9.27 update, which is available on the Google Play Store, we discovered that WhatsApp is working on a feature to hide groups in communities!
As you can see from the attached screenshot, WhatsApp is currently testing a new feature to allow community admins to control the visibility of their group chats, set for release in a future update of the app. Thanks to this feature, community administrators can hide certain group chats from the list of community groups, and only invited members can find and join them. It is worth noting that community admins will only be able to find and remove the group from the community, but they will not have access to the content of the hidden group chats unless they are also members.
In our opinion, this feature will bring several benefits to community management, as it enhances privacy within communities by allowing members to create discrete groups for specific discussions without broadcasting their presence to the entire community. This is particularly useful for sensitive topics, exclusive groups, or moderator-only chats. In addition, we believe that it gives community admins more control and flexibility in managing their communities. By hiding certain group chats, they can maintain a cleaner and more organized community structure, allowing specific members to participate in focused discussions in these hidden group chats without causing unnecessary clutter in the general community.
A feature to hide groups in communities is under development and it will be available in a future update of the app. We will share another article once we've gathered additional information about this feature.
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