Let’s be honest, we’re all members of at least one WhatsApp group we’re unable to leave that pings with new messages far too frequently for our liking. Whether it’s a Stag Do chat filled with (presumably) hilarious in-jokes between two people you’ve yet to meet, a conversation with old University friends that you’re unable to leave without causing great offence, or a group with extended family cooing over endless shots of a baby from ever-so-slightly different angles… there are plenty of reasons you might want to silence a WhatsApp chat without leaving the group behind for good.
Until now, the Facebook-owned chat app has only offered users the ability to “mute” notifications from an individual or group chat for eight-hours, one-week, or one-year. Your iPhone or Android smartphone will still ring when you receive a VOIP call from that contact, but your phone won’t vibrate or make noise when a new message arrives.
According to @WABetaInfo – an account that trawls through the latest beta versions of WhatsApp to unearth clues about upcoming features – WhatsApp is looking to switch the one-year mute option for an ever-lasting “mute always” setting.
That makes a certain amount of sense. After all, it seems a pretty safe bet that anyone you’d rather not hear from for the next 365-days is someone that can probably be muted indefinitely.
Until the “mute always” option arrives, you’ll still have to renew the mute setting each year. To do that, launch the WhatsApp group chat you’d rather not audibly hear from for the foreseeable, then tap the group subject.
Next up, tap on “Mute Notifications” and select the length of time you’d like the peace and quiet. Optionally, WhatsApp also lets you uncheck the “Show notifications” option to stop notifications popping up in your notifications screen on your iPhone or Android. If you choose this option, the only way to find out what is happening in the group chat is to select it from the list of active chats inside the app and read the latest texts.