WhatsApp Developing ‘Mark as Read’ and Mute Features

Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp will be adding an additional feature to its platform. This new addition is currently in development and has yet to be rolled out, Deccan Chronicle reported.

Called Mark as Read, the new feature will act as a shortcut accessible to users through the Notification Center. To elaborate on this, the feature will allow users to mark messages as read when they receive a chat from a contact.

They can do this on the Notification Panel without opening the WhatsApp itself or the chat window. As it stands, the notification panel has only the “Reply” option for users, but when the new addition is implemented, the words “Mark as Read” will then be displayed.

The new feature was first spotted on the WhatsApp Android beta version 2.18.214. Moreover, beta users can’t use the feature yet as developers are still ironing details out. Having said this, the “Mark as Read” feature is expected to be incorporated in the app sooner rather than later.

Aside from this, WhatsApp is also developing a mute feature. Following the same shortcut offered by the “Mark as Read” option, the mute button can be activated without opening the app. Beta users of WhatsApp can expect both these features to be incorporated soon.

In related news, authorities in India arrested 25 people following the latest WhatsApp lynching that is proliferating in the region. The reason for the lynching is that the victims had been painted as kidnappers after they tried to offer chocolates to local children.

“One of them had bought chocolates from Qatar and tried to offer it to the children as a token of affection,” said VN Patil, deputy police chief of Bidar. Elders formed a snap presumption of the victims when one of the children started crying.

The trio managed to escape the mob that formed in the area but was caught by a larger one a few miles from the spot. The elders took to WhatsApp to spread the word and a 2,000-strong mob waited for the three to pass by.