WhatsApp is the world’s most popular instant messaging app, and for good reason — it gets a steady stream of updates, has a long list of features, and supports a wide range of devices. There’s little wonder why it’s hit the billion user mark. Want to get the most out of the platform? We’ve got a few essential WhatsApp tricks you should use.
1. How to create bold, italicized, or strikethrough text
It’s been around for a while now, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t know about this neat WhatsApp trick.
Simply put an asterisk (*) at the beginning and end of the desired word or sentence and you can make it bold. So if you’d like to bold the word biscuit, you’ll need to type *biscuit*. The same goes for italics, only with an underscore (_) on either side of the desired text instead. To strike through text, you’ll need to add a tilde (~) to the beginning and end of the desired passage. There’s also an option to create monospace text, by adding three grave accents (“`) to either side of the text.
Want an easier way to do all this? Then highlight the word or passage in question, tap “more” and choose from bold, italicize, strikethrough, or monospace. This doesn’t work on all devices though, so you might have to do the long way.
2. Quote a message in your response
Whether your texting pace is just too fast or a group chat constantly sees new messages, quoting is one of the best WhatsApp tricks to manage context.
To quote someone, you’ll want to hold down on the desired message, then tap the arrow icon that points to the left (it’s the first arrow that appears on top). From here, you can compose your response with the quoted message attached for all to see.
3 Stop auto-downloading via mobile data
One of our favorite WhatsApp tricks can actually help you save some precious mobile data.
There are a few ways to save data in WhatsApp while still receiving notifications and messages. First, disable the app’s ability to download media on mobile data. This is done via Settings > Data and storage usage > When using mobile data.
From this section, you can check or uncheck the downloading of photos, audio, videos and documents via mobile data. This way, you need to tap on the file to actually download it. Videos, in particular, are huge data hogs, so we’d recommend leaving this unchecked.
4 WhatsApp calls eating data? Try this
WhatsApp calls are a handy feature on the platform, but they can consume a fair bit of mobile data if you’re a heavy user or on a limited plan. Thankfully we know of more WhatsApp tricks for improving data consumption. If you’d like to save some bandwidth, try visiting Settings > Data and storage usage > Low data usage and tick the box to lower the amount of data used in a call.
5 Add a contact to your home screen
WhatsApp also lets you add contacts to your homescreen — ideal for significant others and other frequently contacted people.
To add a chat to your phone’s homescreen, open the contact or group in question, then tap the three dot menu in the top right corner. From here, visit More > Add shortcut. You then simply tap “add” to confirm the decision.
To add a chat to your phone’s homescreen, open the contact or group in question, then tap the three dot menu in the top right corner. From here, visit More > Add shortcut. You then simply tap “add” to confirm the decision.
6 How to use live location tracking
Sending a location pin is pretty simple in WhatsApp, as you tap the paper clip icon in the message field and choose “location.” But what if you want someone to track your movement in real-time, such as your partner or parent? Fortunately, this is indeed a thing, being one of the best WhatsApp tricks for parents and people with helicopter parents.
You can do this by tapping the paper clip icon once again. From here, tap Location > Share Live location, and specify a period of time to be tracked, ranging from 15 minutes to eight hours. Don’t worry, you can manually end location tracking yourself.
7 Use WhatsApp on your PC
If you prefer a full-size keyboard or just like the convenience of the big screen, WhatsApp Web is one of the best features for you.
To get things started, visit web.whatsapp.com on your computer. The website will display a QR code, which can read on the WhatsApp mobile app. On your phone, tap the three dot menu in the top right corner, then select “WhatsApp Web” to launch the QR code reader. Now, scan the website’s QR code via your phone’s QR code reader and that’s it.
The biggest downside to WhatsApp Web is that it’s completely tethered to your phone. You can’t access it via your PC at work if you left your phone at home. Nevertheless, it’s still a better option than nothing.
8 Sign up for beta access
To get new features first, you’ll need to join the beta program. This also means you run the risk of encountering bugs and other flaws, so do keep that in mind.
To sign up for beta access, visit the WhatsApp page on the Google Play Store and scroll down to the “become a beta tester” section at the bottom. Tap the “I’m in” button and you will then be enrolled in the beta program. Updating to the beta version works just like a regular Play Store app update, as you simply tap the “update” button to get the bleeding-edge version of the app.
If you’d like to leave the beta, you can do so at any time by tapping the “leave” button that replaces “I’m in,”
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