WhatsApp working on new feature to let you mute calls from strangers

Meta-owned WhatsApp is reportedly developing a new feature, “silence unknown callers”, which will allow users to mute calls from unknown numbers while still showing them in the calls list and notification centre. This is a part of WhatsApp’s attempt to curb spam on the platform, as well as protect users against intrusive calls from strangers.

According to WABetaInfo, the new feature is currently under development on WhatsApp beta for Android. This feature will also include several advantages, such as reducing interruptions and potentially avoiding spam calls. Users will find the toggle located in the app settings, and once enabled, calls from unknown numbers will get silenced, but they will still be shown in the calls list and notification centre, said the report.

Spam calls have increased over the past few years, causing disruptions to users. According to data released by the online community platform LocalCircles, more than one in two users in India face four or more spam messages each day on WhatsApp. Despite stringent curbs on telemarketing issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), spam calls and messages have only increased.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp is rolling out a new “Split view” feature for tablets, which will allow users to see and use two different sections of the application side by side at the same time, on Android beta. Usually, the chat view takes up the entire screen when users open a chat on the tablet version of the application and then users have to go back to the chat list again if they want to open a different conversation. With the new feature, the chat list will always be visible when opening a chat. The split view has been available on WhatsApp for iPadOS for a while.

— Written with inputs from IANS

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