Turns out that there are a lot of features that were added by the instant messenger service that a lot of it’s users still aren’t privy to. So as always, you didn’t ask us to but we’re going to tell ’em to you anyway.

1. You can disable your last seen and those dreaded blue ticks.

Finally, after realizing the error of their ways WhatsApp has come out with the option to disable these relationship-destroying, friendship-ruining features. Now you can avoid them to your hearts content! Simply go to Privacy and change your ‘Last Seen to Nobody and uncheck the box which reads Read Receipts and you’re good to go.

2. You can create shortcuts for conversations.

Lets be honest, there are probably some people you talk to more than others. For this unfortunate few, you can create a shortcut by long pressing on their name and choosing the create a shortcut option on your phone desktop. 

3. You can now see when your messages were read.

So you thought that the blue ticks were bad? Well WhatsApp decided to screw you over some more. Now, you can check when your message was read as well! Simply long press on the message and choose the Info option to find out.

4. You can now find out exactly where your friends are.

There’s always that one friend who says they’ve left when they’ve just woken up (I am that friend, btw). Now you can find out precisely where they are by asking them to send you their location. And if they try to fool you be sending you a location from maps, you can call them out on it. A location send through WhatsApp never displays the name of the address while it does so on maps.

5. You can set custom notification tones for different chats.

Now you can know who has sent you a message without even looking at the screen. Important group chats, your boss or your mother, you can no set custom notifications tones for all of them. Simply click on the options button at the top left of the chat and go to view contact/group info and then go to Custom Notifications.

6. You can save your mobile data by tweaking a few settings.

Since the arrival of 3g and 4g, you no longer need to be tethered to a wifi router. You have fast internet on the go. But even so, that doesn’t mean you want to blow your entire data as fast as possible, right? Simply go to settings and then to data usage. You can customize your date options options to your liking.

7. You can tie the app to your number.

Never lose your contacts ever again. Even if you buy a new phone, you can choose to tie the application to your new phone number. By choosing not to do that, you can continue using WhatsApp with your new some and old contacts, provided you had backed them up of course. 

8. You can bookmark messages by starring them.

Say you have to go to a birthday party but your friends address is lost somewhere in the 200+ messages in the group chat called “Pappu’s birthday!” Well, instead of going through all the inane bullshit till you find it, you can star important messages by long pressing them and clicking on the star icon. Then when you need to find them, go to settings and click on starred messages. Viola!

9. You can use WhatsApp on your internet browser.

Are your thumbs to big for that tiny little touch keyboard on the screen? Well, worry no more you thick fingered freak because there is a solution and it’s called WhatsApp Web. Open the browser to the WhatsApp Web page and a QR code will appear. Go to settings on your WhatsApp, select the option for WhatsApp Web and scan the code and start chatting.

10. You can reply to messages without even having to open the chat.

Peeping toms are everywhere. Especially on the metro. If you don’t want people looking at your private chats, you can enable the pop up option. Instead of having to go to your chat to respond, you can type in your reply into the pop up and press send. Go to settings, then click on notifications and you’ll see the pop up options. Choose one from four different privacy settings.

11. You can use font styles like bold, italics and strike-through too.

One of WhatsApp’s most recent feature has been the ability to customize the font of the texts you send. Use strike-through. Make them italic. Make them bold. Lets take the word hello as an example. To make it bold, type *hello*. To Make it italic, type _hello_. To use strike-through, type ~hello~. 

Well, that’s all for today folks. We’ve given you these lesser known WhatsApp hacks, so to speak. Go try ’em out and distract yourself from the slow march to inevitable death!