Unlock the full potential of WhatsApp with these 5 hidden features

These hidden WhatsApp features will come in handy for both personal and professional use cases.

These features could take your WhatsApp game to the next level (Image credit: WhatsApp)

WhatsApp, the most popular instant messaging platform in the world gets better almost every month, as Meta continues to add new features to enhance the user experience. If you are an avid WhatsApp user, here are five secret features that are worth checking out.

Screen sharing during a video call

WhatsApp has been supporting free video calls for a while now. Just recently, the company introduced the ability to share the screen of a smartphone or a computer (PC or Mac), which allows users to give presentations to discuss monthly targets, or to pitch a product. Users can simply share their screen in real time and open an app of their choice to enjoy an immersive collaboration experience.

To share screen on WhatsApp, initiate a video call > click on the screen share button > and to end screen sharing, just click on the stop sharing button.

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Send short video messages

WhatsApp allows users to send, text-based, sticker-based, emoji-based, audio-based, and even video-based messages. Meta recently introduced short video messages (less than 60 seconds), which could help users grab the attention of their friends or partners. They appear in a circular format, which adds a bit of fun.

To send a quick short video message, simply click on the microphone icon in the bottom right corner, once it changes to a video camera icon, record the message and hit send.

Make your WhatsApp more private and secure

Meta has made it easier to control all the privacy-related features on WhatsApp, which can be accessed from one place. The new privacy menu can be accessed from the settings tab, which includes options to select who can contact you, control personal data, and the ability to enable disappearing messages.

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Lock WhatsApp and individual chats

You can lock the entire WhatsApp on both Android and iOS devices or lock individual chats to enhance privacy on WhatsApp. In a recent update, WhatsApp also enabled an option, where, a user can set a separate password for each individually locked chat, which further enhances privacy and security. Users on an Android phone can secure their WhatsApp using a fingerprint sensor, while iPhone users can make use of Face ID.

Enable end-to-end encryption for chat backups

WhatsApp chats are encrypted by default, however, the chat backups are not, this means, these chats can be accessed by cloud storage providers like iCloud and Google Drive. By enabling end-to-end encryption, you can prevent cloud service providers from accessing your personal data.

Go to settings > chats > backup > and enable end-to-end encryption to further protect your private messages and multimedia on WhatsApp.