WhatsApp unveils safety features such as flash calls and message level reporting
WhatsApp is one of the largest messaging platforms, the Meta-owned (formerly Facebook) app has been adding a slew of features. In India, WhatsApp has added two new security features: flash calls and message-level reporting. Users can report accounts by highlighting a specific message in the latter.
Further Details
The flash call function is in addition to the SMS verification option that is required during the WhatsApp registration procedure. These two features, according to WhatsApp, have been added to guarantee that the user experience stays safe. Apart from end-to-end encryption, WhatsApp has a number of security features, including contact banning, control over what you communicate with whom, shared messages that vanish, and the ability to lock the app using Touch ID or Face ID.
As part of its attempts to make the platform more secure, the instant messaging service has included flash calls and message-level reporting facilities. When setting up WhatsApp on a new phone or reinstalling it on an existing phone, the new flash call function allows users to verify their phone number by an automated call rather than an SMS message. For the time being, this functionality is only accessible for Android users. This method enables WhatsApp to immediately contact and verify the phone number, obviating the need for any extra SMS verification activity. Because of everything takes happen within WhatsApp, the company says that this is a much safer choice.
In terms of message-level reporting, WhatsApp users may now flag a specific message and report accounts to WhatsApp. To report or ban a user, just hold down the shift key while pressing a specific message. WhatsApp claims that in the month of September alone, it banned over 2.2 million accounts in its latest transparency report. While the majority of the accounts were banned as a result of automated technologies used by WhatsApp to track down suspicious accounts.
Wrapping Up
Other WhatsApp safety features include the option to select who may view a user’s profile photo, last seen, about, and Status. Users can also utilize it to restrict accounts if necessary. Users may now utilize two-step verification to add an extra layer of protection to their WhatsApp accounts. WhatsApp provides group privacy options that allow users to manage who joins their group chats. Disappearing messages and View Once were also implemented recently by the corporation. The latter allows users to transmit a photo or video that will vanish after the receiver has opened it once on WhatsApp.
