WhatsApp update finally fixes one of the chat app's biggest annoyances

WhatsApp will roll out a slew of new nifty updates to its diminishing users, fleeing in their droves since data-sharing concerns were levied against the platform due to changes in its privacy policy. The fall-out of which damaged and still rankles the tech giant.

Previous chatter around a new beta update to introduce multi-device access has been doing the rounds for some time; meanwhile, we also covered another touted update that would banish an entrenched pet-peeve of the platform, chiefly users' inability to mute videos before sending to a contact. 

This isn’t the first time WhatsApp has run into mutability issues; it’s widely known that the platform stops you from permanently muting a chatty contact, incurring the wrath of many users who seek a more tranquil home for their conversations. Reports now suggest WhatsApp is eyeing up several updates that will patch some of these glaring holes in the platform's user-friendliness – but, they are confined to beta users for the time being. 

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According to the WhatsApp features tracker, WABetaInfo, you can now try the new multi-support feature in the 2.21.30.16 beta update for iOS, and the WhatsApp 2.21.1.1 beta for Android. 

Thankfully, this should purge the inability to use your WhatsApp desktop client without an active internet connection from your phone. It’s a widely encountered issue: a beta update to tackle this looks to let users run the app on up to four separate devices and, importantly, sign-out any of those devices from the primary account. In theory, you could then hookup any four handsets from our best iPhones list to your main WhatsApp account, then independently control them. More selective control is a much-welcomed feature for WhatsApp that has a rigid ecosystem.

And it comes with news of another new feature dubbed, Mute videos, on the latest WhatsApp beta for Android users – 2.21.3.13. Certain beta users should get the ability to toggle sound off, muting clips they want to exchange with their contact list, before actually sending them. 

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Reports suggest that the new functionality is located inside the video-editing platform, presented as a volume icon. Hitting this will likely silence the outgoing video. Recent coverage of WhatsApp's rejig of its desktop client to include video calling is another example of its attempts to appease users. If you're purely mobile-based, our pick of the best Android phones is a good place to choose a new device to house your messaging apps.

The Facebook-owned messaging platform is making concerted efforts to bring new updates to its platform considering the ongoing publicity ruckus: some are more privacy-focused to rally confidence in its platform by adding the likes of desktop biometric authentication, others are more brazen attempts by WhatsApp to stem the flow of exiting users to the best WhatsApp alternatives.

Inevitably, the updates don’t patch every issue with the platform, nor do they pledge anything more beyond a beta; however, it’s a move in the right direction that suggests WhatsApp is scaling up its user controls, as more and more people use multiple devices at once. 

Source: WABetaInfo