WhatsApp 'Restrict Group' feature allows admin to censor members' posts

Facebook-owned WhatsApp is rolling out its "Restrict Group" for all iOS, Android and Windows Phone users -- a feature that gives the group administrator powers to restrict other members from sending text messages, photographs, videos, GIFs, documents or voice messages in case the admin thinks so.

According to WABetaInfo, a popular fan site that tests new WhatsApp features early, you need to update your WhatsApp version to the 2.18.132 Android update in order to remotely receive the activation of the feature.

The "Restrict Group" feature, first spotted in last December, adds "Privacy settings" in the group.

"All participants can normally edit the group description, icon and subject, but finally the administrator can restrict this feature today, preventing no-administrators to modify the group description," the website said.

How WhatsApp launched 'Reply Privately' feature in beta update - mistakenly

WhatsApp mistakenly rolled out the 'Reply Privately' feature in a beta update that will allow users to privately send a message to a participant in a group without anyone else knowing about it.

According to Express.co.uk, the hotly-anticipated feature is under development and could be rolled out with other features as well.

The feature appeared and was subsequently dropped from the beta version of the app, watcher of the popular chat app @WABetaInfo said, confirming that the developers wrongly enabled the feature.

"In the new WhatsApp beta for Windows Phone 2.17.344 the private reply feature is disabled. Probably WhatsApp has wrongly enabled it in 2.17.342," WABetaInfo tweeted.

WABetaInfo said that the option will only be available in group chats and will be included in the small menu that pops-up when users press and hold on a message.

Earlier this month, WABetaInfo leaked the details of the features that WhatsApp was developing for web and desktop, including tap to unblock and a picture-in-picture (PIP) mode.
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