WhatsApp has been working on including a ton of features in the past few months, such as the disappearing messages, sticker creator, message reactions, redesigned apps, and so much more. In the latest release, WhatsApp is now rolling out a new privacy measure that will hide your “Last seen” status from people who you hadn’t added to your contact list by default, instead of letting “everyone” see when you were last online.

https://twitter.com/NiHaolain/status/1468281924057763849

While the ‘new’ feature may actually be new to WhatsApp, it had been added to several other popular messaging platforms such as Telegram a long time ago. Needless to say, the more privacy options, the better, and it’s great to see this finally appear on one of the most popular messaging services (via WABetaInfo).

In a Twitter post, a user asks WhatsApp why they haven’t been able to see the “Last seen” information from other users. Another user replied, showing an email, explaining how the new feature works. The email says that WhatsApp is “making it harder for people you don’t know and haven’t chatted with from seeing your last seen and online presence on WhatsApp. This will not change anything between you and your friends, family, and business who you know or have previously messaged.”

The option previously allowed anyone to stalk you online, and see when you were “last seen” by default. A few third-party apps may have used this feature for other than what they were supposed to, and it’s good to know that this tracking information will be cut off by default from now. There will also be an additional “Nobody” option in settings, letting users completely hide from everyone when they were last online.

What are your thoughts about the new feature? Will you completely hide your online presence on WhatsApp, or still allow your contacts to see when you were last online? Let us know in the comments below!