While everyone is currently stuck at home, there is little else left to do other than chat with your friends and binge watch Netflix. WhatsApp has over two billion users worldwide that are constantly using the app to stay in touch with their friends and families. WhatsApp has been pushing out features on a regular basis; from integrating Rooms to helping users spot fake news. In this article, we will cover a new feature termed ‘Vacation Mode’. Here is everything you need to know about it.
What is Vacation mode on WhatsApp?
Well, we have all been spending so much time on social media that we could use a break. While it is definitely important to take a break from your phone, sometimes you also need a break from some people. And that is why WhatsApp is working on a new feature called ‘Vacation Mode’.
However, you must note that it’s not an official name for the feature, and that may not see anything called ‘Vacation mode’ in your WhatsApp app. Rather, it’s just a few settings inside the ‘Archived chats’ menu that let you turn off notifications for those chats. The screenshot above shows the two settings you get as par of un-officially called Vacation mode, enabling you to be free of notifications from chats you have archived.
Vacation Mode was first spotted back in 2018 by good guys over at WEBetaInfo. The feature gained some traction over the years but then was suddenly scrapped from the beta program. Now with the latest update in WhatsApp Beta, WaBetainfo has broken down the code to learn that that Vacation mode may actually make it to our apps!
Vacation mode is built along the idea of Archived chats. The feature lets you create a separate section for all your archived chats. This way you have control over which chats stay archived and which don’t. Vacation mode adds much-needed notification settings for archived chats. You will be able to edit the notification settings of the archived chats to change which chats show notifications and which don’t.
Additionally, there will be a new function that lets you auto-hide old chats old inactive chats and adds them to the archive folder.
What’s wrong with WhatsApp’s archive feature?
You probably already know that WhatsApp does in fact have an archive function. This function has been a part of the app for years now. The archive function lets you hide a chat with a person from your main chats page. Now, this does not delete the chat in any way, but simply hides it from your view.
However, one major flaw with the function is that when you receive a message from the person, you still receive a notification and the chat reappears. This kind of defeats the purpose of an archived chat. There is no way to control the individual notification settings of archived chats on WhatsApp.
Vacation Mode vs Archiving
Vacation Mode is basically going to be an overhaul of WhatsApp’s current archiving function. Currently, when you archive a chat, it simply disappears from your chat. To access your archived chats, you need to scroll right to the bottom of your list. This is quite tiresome and inefficient. Vacation Mode fixes this problem by bringing the archived button right to the top of your list of chats.
When you access our archived chats you will notice that there are no specific settings designated for them. Other than the option to unarchive the chat, there is not much you can do. Vacation Mode brings new settings that let you edit the way archived chats behave on your account.
With Vacation Mode, you can toggle whether you would like to receive notifications for new messages in archived chats. This was a major setting missing from WhatsApp’s current Archive function. When toggled off, you will not be disturbed by any notifications that you get in chats that you have archived. Another setting lets you auto-hide inactive chats. Chats that are inactive for 6 months will be added to the archive folder. You can still access them and change their notification settings.
What is the ‘Auto-hide inactive chats’ feature?
The ‘Auto-hide inactive chats’ is a setting that will be added to the archived chats folder as part of the Vacation mode feature. When enabled WhatsApp will automatically archive all your chats and groups that have been inactive for six months or more. All these chats will be moved to the new Archive folder at the top of the chats list. Currently, it is unclear whether doing so will prevent these chats from displaying notifications.
Can you get Vacation Mode on your device?
Vacation mode is currently hidden within WhatsApps latest Beta release. There is no release date as to when the function will go live. WhatsApp has not even mentioned when the feature will be available for its beta testers. The best thing you can do is to join the Beta program. This way you will be the first to receive the feature when it is ready.
How to join WhatsApp Beta
Before you join the WhatsApp Beta program, you should know that Beta releases of the app are usually buggy. So if you do go ahead, make sure you are ready for app crashes, missing functions, etc. Joining the Beta program will replace your current stable WhatsApp app with the beta version. Don’t worry, you can always go back to the stable version at any point.
To join the Beta program simply follow this link and click ‘Become a tester’.
Your app on your device should automatically be updated with the latest Beta version of the app. If not, simply locate the WhatsApp app on the Google Play Store and hit ‘Update’.
What do you think of the new Vacation mode feature soon to hit WhatsApp? Let us know in the comments below.
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