WhatsApp Secrets Unlocked: 20 Hidden iPhone Features You Didn’t Know Existed

WhatsApp iPhone Tricks: Master Your Messaging Game In 2023

If you’re reading this, you likely know WhatsApp is a chat messenger titan. But even the most seasoned WhatsApp users might not be aware of all the hidden tricks and features that can streamline communication and enhance their experience. While many associate WhatsApp tricks with Android, iPhone users have a treasure trove of their own. This comprehensive guide will delve into some of the most useful WhatsApp iPhone tricks for 2023, taking you from scheduling messages and sending to unsaved numbers to managing storage and enhancing privacy. Buckle up, because you’re about to unlock a whole new level of WhatsApp mastery.

Scheduling Messages: Future-Proof Your Communication

One of the most sought-after features in messaging apps is the ability to schedule messages. While WhatsApp doesn’t offer this natively, Siri Shortcuts provides the perfect workaround. Follow these steps to schedule messages on WhatsApp for your iPhone:

1. Open the Shortcuts app and tap the Automation tab at the bottom.
2. Select Create Personal Automation.
3. Choose the Time of Day option to set the dates and times for your scheduled message.
4. Tap Next and then Add Action.
5. Search for Text and select the Text action.
6. Enter your message in the text field, exactly as you want it to appear. For example, "Happy birthday!"
7. Tap the + icon below the text field and search for WhatsApp.
8. Select Send Message via WhatsApp. Choose the recipient from your contact list and hit Next.
9. Finally, on the next screen, tap Done.

Now, at the scheduled time, you’ll receive a notification from the Shortcuts app. Simply tap the notification to open WhatsApp with your message ready to send. All that’s left is to hit Send!

Remember: You can only schedule messages for up to a week using this method. If you need to schedule messages further out, try this Siri Shortcut, which allows for any date and time: link to shortcut.

Sending Messages Without Adding Contacts

There’s no need to save someone’s number to start a WhatsApp conversation. With Shortcuts, you can send messages to unsaved numbers directly:

1. Download the Shortcuts app if you don’t already have it. Run any shortcut to enable it, then go to Settings > Shortcuts and enable Allow Untrusted Shortcuts.
2. Open this link and tap Get Shortcut: link to shortcut.
3. Tap Add Untrusted Shortcut. This will add the shortcut to your Shortcuts app.
4. Go back to the My Shortcuts page and run the shortcut, Open in WhatsApp.
5. Enter the recipient’s phone number, including the country code. You’ll be redirected to WhatsApp with a new message window open.
6. For easy access, tap the three dots icon at the top of the shortcut, select Add to Home Screen, and then Add.

Quickly Checking Who’s Messaged You

You don’t have to open WhatsApp to see who’s reached out. Using the WhatsApp widget on your Home Screen:

1. Swipe right on your Home Screen to access Today View.
2. Scroll to the bottom and tap Edit.
3. Find WhatsApp and tap the + icon to add it to Today View.
4. Tap Done to save.

You will now see who has messaged you recently and four WhatsApp Status updates. Tapping on any of these icons will open WhatsApp and take you to the specific chat or Status.

Adding WhatsApp Chats to Your Home Screen

While iOS doesn’t offer a native option to add chat shortcuts to your Home Screen, Shortcuts can make this happen. Here’s how to add a specific contact’s chat shortcut:

1. Open Shortcuts and tap Create Shortcut.
2. Tap Add Action and search for Send Message via WhatsApp. Select this action.
3. Choose the recipient you want to add.
4. Once done, tap Next.
5. Give your shortcut a name and, if desired, edit the icon. Tap Done.
6. In My shortcuts, tap the three dots icon on the shortcut, then tap Add to Home Screen. Finally, tap Add.

Now, your desired contact’s chat shortcut will be on your Home Screen. Tap it to open their WhatsApp conversation instantly.

Sending Full-Resolution Videos

While WhatsApp does have a 100MB limit on photo and video attachments, you can send higher-resolution video files by saving them to your iPhone’s Files app.

1. Open your Photos app and select the video you wish to share.
2. Tap the Share icon and scroll down to Save to Files.
3. After saving, open WhatsApp and select the contact you want to send the video to.
4. In the chat window, tap the + icon, then Document. Locate the saved video file and tap to select it.

5. Hit Send to share the high-resolution video.

   Preventing Media Auto-Download

WhatsApp automatically downloads photos and videos. To prevent this and save storage space, especially in group chats:

1. Open WhatsApp and go to Settings > Data and Storage Usage.
2. Under Media Auto-Download, you can individually set Photos, Audio, Videos, or Documents to Never. This means you will have to manually download these files.

Discovering WhatsApp Camera Effects

The WhatsApp camera offers fun tools beyond simple texting and stickers. Two hidden effects, blur and monochrome, allow you to quickly enhance photos.

1. Open WhatsApp and tap Camera. Take a new photo or select one from your camera roll.
2. Once the picture is displayed, tap the pencil icon on the top right.
3. Swipe down the color palette to find blur and monochrome tools.
4. Use the blur tool to apply a blur effect to parts of the photo.
5. With the monochrome tool, you can turn parts of the photo black and white.
6. You can also adjust the intensity and brush size for finer control. While holding your finger on the blur or monochrome tool, swipe left to increase or decrease the brush size.

Listening to Voice Notes Before Sending

WhatsApp doesn’t have a built-in preview feature for voice notes, but you can listen to your recording before sending it.

1. Open a WhatsApp chat.
2. Press and hold the microphone icon on the bottom right to start recording.
3. Swipe up to lock the recording so you can release your finger from the screen.
4. When finished, simply exit to your Home Screen.
5. Return to WhatsApp. The recording will be paused, and you’ll see a play button at the bottom.
6. Tap the play button to listen to your recording.
7. If you need to re-record, tap the red delete button to remove the current recording.
8. Pro tip: To listen through your phone’s earpiece, simply press the play button and raise your phone to your ear. It will play like a call.

Adding an Extra Layer of Security with Two-Step Verification

Two-step verification is your best defense against unauthorized access to your WhatsApp account.

1. Open WhatsApp and go to Settings > Account > Two-Step Verification.
2. Tap Enable.
3. Enter a six-digit PIN of your choice and then add an email address. This email will be linked to your account and used to reset your PIN if you forget it.
4. Confirm your email address. Tap Done. Your WhatsApp account now has an added layer of protection.

Sharing Your WhatsApp Number Quickly with QR Codes

Need to give someone your WhatsApp number instantly? No need for complicated typing! QR codes are the solution.

1. Open this link and tap Get Shortcut: link to shortcut.
2. Add Untrusted Shortcut.
3. Enter your phone number, including your country code (e.g., +1 555-555-5555).
4. Optionally, type a welcome message. Tap Done.
5. Now, whenever you run this shortcut, your phone will display a QR code. Anyone can scan this code with their phone (iPhone or Android) and instantly begin a WhatsApp conversation with you.

Having Siri Read Out Your WhatsApp Messages

Yes, Siri can handle your WhatsApp messages. But first, make sure Siri and WhatsApp are connected.

1. Open Settings > Siri & Search.
2. Enable Listen for "Hey Siri".
3. Scroll down and tap WhatsApp.
4. Enable Use with Ask Siri.

Now, when you receive a new WhatsApp message, simply say, "Hey Siri, read my new messages." Siri will read the messages aloud and even prompt you to reply.

Note: Siri won’t read messages when WhatsApp is open with unread messages.

Totally Hiding Your Online Status

Even if you hide your last seen status, WhatsApp will still show your online status to others when you are actively using the app. To send messages without revealing your online presence, try Siri.

1. Say, "Hey Siri, send a WhatsApp message to [contact name]". If you have multiple contacts with the same name, Siri will ask you to choose the right one.
2. Siri will ask you what you want to send. Speak your message.
3. Siri will confirm your message. Say "Yes" to send it.

This method allows you to send messages without appearing "online" on WhatsApp.

Muting WhatsApp Status Updates

If someone’s WhatsApp stories aren’t catching your interest, you can easily mute them.

1. Open WhatsApp and tap Status.
2. Select the contact you want to mute.
3. Swipe left on their name and tap Mute.
4. To unmute, go to Muted Updates at the bottom of the Status screen.
5. Swipe left on the contact and tap Unmute.

Bonus: If you’ve muted someone’s Status and don’t want to see their chat thread either, but don’t want to block them or delete the chat, Archive their conversation.

• Go to Chats and select the contact.
• Swipe left and tap Archive.
• This will hide the chat, but you can always access it by going to Archived Chats (swipe down from the top of Chats to view).

To unarchive, swipe left on the chat and tap Unarchive.

Auto-Downloading Media from Specific Contacts

Remember that you can individually control media auto-download per contact.

1. Open WhatsApp and go to Chats.
2. Select a contact.
3. Tap the contact’s name at the top, then tap Save to Camera Roll.
4. Set this to Always.

From now on, media files shared by this contact will be automatically downloaded.

Enabling Fingerprint or Face Lock Security

Add an additional security layer to WhatsApp with fingerprint or Face ID lock.

1. Open WhatsApp > Settings > Account > Privacy.
2. Tap Screen Lock.
3. Enable Require Touch ID or Require Face ID.
4. Choose how long WhatsApp can stay unlocked before requiring your biometrics: Immediately, After 1 minute, After 15 minutes, or After 1 hour.

Managing WhatsApp Storage

Don’t let WhatsApp consume all of your iPhone’s precious storage!

1. Open WhatsApp > Settings > Data and Storage Usage > Storage Usage.
2. You’ll see a list of your conversations and the storage they use.
3. Tap any conversation to get details on message count, media files, etc.
4. Tap Manage to select specific items to free up space.
5. Tap Clear to remove them.

Searching Within a WhatsApp Chat

Trying to find a specific message in a lengthy chat? WhatsApp lets you search by keyword or phrase, even within a single chat.

1. Open WhatsApp and type a keyword or phrase in the search bar at the top. Tap search. Results will show any messages from any contact containing your search term.
2. To search within a specific contact’s chat, open the chat thread. Tap the contact’s name at the top.
3. Tap Chat Search. Enter your keyword or phrase and then tap search.

Checking Message Read Status

WhatsApp provides delivery and read status information about your sent messages.

1. Open any chat in WhatsApp.
2. If you see two blue ticks next to a message, it means the message has been delivered and read.
3. If blue ticks are disabled, you’ll see two grey ticks indicating the message has been delivered.
4. To check read status with blue ticks disabled, swipe left on the sent message.
5. This will open the message info screen. Two grey ticks with the delivery time means the message was delivered. Two blue ticks above the grey ones mean the message was read.

Pinning Priority Chats

Keep your top conversations readily accessible by pinning them to the top of your chat list.

1. Open WhatsApp and swipe right on the chat thread you want to pin.
2. Tap Pin. You can pin up to three chats.

Setting Custom Ringtones

Make messages from important contacts stand out with unique ringtones.

1. Open WhatsApp and select the contact you want to personalize.
2. Tap their name at the top of the chat.
3. Tap Custom Tone.
4. Choose a tone and tap Save.

Now, you have an array of essential WhatsApp iPhone tricks at your fingertips. From scheduling messages to managing storage and enhancing security, you’re ready to unleash the full potential of WhatsApp on your iPhone. Stay tuned for more updates and tips as the messaging landscape continues to evolve!

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