Everyone knows what WhatsApp is and what it is for, but not all functions are exploited to the maximum. Here are the 6 tricks to use WhatsApp to the fullest.
Over 2 billion people around the world use WhatsApp to send and receive messages: business chats, family groups, conversations with friends. The popular instant messaging app is installed on virtually every type of mobile device: iPhone , Android smartphone , tablet , compatible smartwatch and computer thanks to WhatsApp Desktop. The parent company Facebook, in fact, does not stop improving it and introducing new functions.
In short, everyone knows what it is and what it is for, but not all functions are exploited. Except for the most used (video calls, groups, stories), some functions are little known. Here are 6 tricks to use WhatsApp to the fullest .
1. Broadcast List
WhatsApp broadcast list on Android device
How many groups used just to make a communication do you have on WhatsApp? At least one. If you only have to send the same communication to several people once, just create a broadcast list and you will avoid creating a group that will never be used again. With the broadcast list, the contacts you have selected will receive the message as a private chat and will be able to reply to you without knowing who else has received the same communication; it is also very useful for Christmas and New Year greetings.
To create it, click on the three dots at the top right and select ” New Broadcast ” and, once you have chosen the contacts, you can write and send the message to everyone in one go.
2. Advanced search
Advanced WhatsApp search
The advanced search tool is one of the most useful of WhatsApp and, over time, it has improved more and more until it reaches what we see now. With a simple touch on the lens at the top right, we can search for anything we want: contacts, photos, videos, GIFs, links, audios and documents . By typing the name of a person, the chat with that contact and all conversations containing that name will appear, or again, we can filter the search by type of content and add other search filters. For example, by selecting “ Video ” we will see all the videos received and sent. And so on.
The options are many, you just have to try it!
3. Important messages
Important WhatsApp messages on iOS
We have all received at least one message that we consider important: an address, a love dedication or even just a shopping or to-do list. Instead of getting lost in chats looking for that message, we can take advantage of the important messages option.
If you have an iPhone , you can double-click on the message in question and then select Important from the options in the top bar. To find all important messages, just go to Settings and click on Important Messages .
If you have an Android smartphone , select the message by holding it down and select the star icon from the options in the top bar. To find them, just click the three dots at the top right and select Important Messages .
4. WhatsApp Web and Desktop
WhatsApp Web
To receive and send WhatsApp messages using your computer, you can use WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Desktop. Operation is the same for both solutions.
In the first case, it is a browser-based application. To use it, go to the website.whatsapp.com and from your smartphone open the Settings , select Connected devices and then Connect Device , at this point you just have to frame the QR Code on your computer screen and start chatting.
WhatsApp Desktop, on the other hand, is an application to download to your PC . Once installed, the operation is the same as for WhatsApp Web.
Sent and received messages are synchronized between the phone and the computer, so the smartphone must always be connected to the Internet.
5. Backup your chats
Backup WhatsApp chat on Android
The automatic backup of WhatsApp chats is a function that you absolutely must know. Thanks to the backup, you can recover your chats in case of theft, loss or smartphone change . It can also be done manually, but the advice is to let it do it automatically so you don’t have to worry.
Also from the Settings , select the Chat menu and click on Chat Backup , here you can choose how often to perform the automatic backup ( daily, weekly or monthly ). The advice is to activate the daily one, in this way, the saving will be done every day. You can also choose whether to backup only via WiFi or also via cellular network.
The chats will be saved to iCloud if you have an iPhone or to Google Drive if you have an Android smartphone.
6. Automatic download of images and videos
WhatsApp media download settings on Android
Your memory will probably be full of images you receive on WhatsApp. Sometimes we don’t want to download content, perhaps because we don’t care or because we don’t want to waste the data at our disposal and wait for a WiFi connection. On WhatsApp, you can disable the automatic download of multimedia content. To do this, just go to Settings , select the Chat item and remove the check from Media visibility if you have an Android smartphone or Save to camera roll in the case of an iPhone. In this case, all received photos and videos will need to be downloaded manually.
