WhatsApp beta on Android 8.0 Oreo gets notifications channel support

On WhatsApp, users will have the freedom to disable notifications which are not important, and instead highlight the ones that matter. For instance, one could set all group notifications to low priority if they are part of too many WhatsApp groups and need some peace.  In order to use WhatsApp’s notification channels, a user will need to check for two things. First is, that the smartphone has to be on Android Oreo. Second, they need to install WhatsApp beta Android version 2.18.19 on the phone.

Once this is done, just go to settings, Apps & Notifications in the settings, and search for WhatsApp in the list. Tap on WhatsApp, followed by App Notifications. Scroll down and one will see various options on how to manage notifications on WhatsApp. The messaging app has 10 kinds of notifications listed and these are as following: Group notifications, Message notifications, Chat history backup, Critical app alerts, Failure notifications, Media Playback, Uncategorised, Other notifications, Sending media, and Silent notifications.

WhatsApp will let users customise how the system should handle these kinds of notifications. For instance, a user can put Media Playback on high priority in the notifications and also let such notifications override Do Not Disturb feature. Or one can block all such notifications or set priority to low. A user will have to tap on each kind of notification and give the desired setting in order to make full use of this feature.