WhatsApp secrets – FIVE top tips that every user needs to know

WhatsApp is officially the world’s biggest and most-loved messaging app.

The Facebook-owned service recently announced that it now has a staggering 1.5 billion monthly active users.

With the app installed on millions of devices across the globe it’s now thought that the service is used to send 60 billion messages every single day.

In fact, on New Year’s Eve, WhatsApp set a new record with 75 billion messages sent on that day alone.

That number eclipses any other day in its history with the previous record of 65 million on New Year’s Eve 2016 well and truly smashed.

With its users growing by the day, WhatsApp is continuing to push out new features and updates in a bid to keep its army of followers happy.

So, if you’re a regular on WhatsApp, here’s five hidden features you may not know existed.

WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEOS FROM WITHIN WHATSAPP

If someone now sends you a hilarious YouTube video you don’t have to leave the app to view it anymore.

A recent update now allows all footage, from the popular video sharing site, to be viewed directly from within the app.

All you have to do is tap the play button and the video will launch in a floating window which can then be moved around the screen.

The best part of this is that you can watch the clip while still having a conversation within the app.

You can even jump between different chats without the clip pausing or closing.

ADD LOCATION-BASED STICKERS TO YOUR PHOTOS AND VIDEOS

If you want to customise a photo before sending it you can now add some unique stickers via WhatsApp.

The service announced recently that it is now allowing users to tag a location, as well as the current time, on any photos and videos sent to an individual recipient, or group chat.

To add these effects to your photos you need to first open a chat with someone.

The press the + icon and tap Photo & Video Library,

Choose the photo you want to customise and then tap the smiling face at the top of the screen.

This will launch the stickers where you’ll now find the time and location options which can be placed directly on a picture.

SEND MONEY TO FRIENDS – COMING SOON

If you owe your friends money, WhatsApp has a simple new method to pay them back – without leaving your chat window.

WhatsApp recently confirmed plans to bring wireless money transfers to its chat app.

The rollout comes after a beta trial of the new peer-to-peer payment system was trialled on around one million WhatsApp users.

The Facebook-owned messaging app will now push-out the functionality to every user in India – its biggest market, it has confirmed.

WhatsApp started to launch a limited service in India, where it has currently holds more than 200 million users.

This news follows Facebook Messenger who recently announced it was allowing money to be sent between friends via the messaging app.

DELETE A MESSAGE BUT YOU’LL NEED TO BE QUICK

If you’ve sent something by mistake don’t forget you can quickly delete it.

To delete the message simply tap and hold it.

You’ll then see the a pop-up window with quick links to Reply, Forward, Copy and Delete.

Hitting the Delete symbol and selecting Delete for Everyone will remove the message for good.

The feature works for all types of messages, but only if they were sent less than seven minutes ago.

MAKE SURE YOUR STAY HIDDEN ONLINE

If you really don’t want the world to know when you were last online there’s a very easy way to stop WhatsApp broadcasting this personal data.

To easily prevent your friends from finding out when you were last online by hiding your last seen time. 

Go to Settings > Account > Privacy > Last Seen.

As is the case with disabling read receipts, hiding your ‘last seen’ time will also stop you from seeing anybody else’s.