We’ve had and still do have quite a number of instant messaging apps from 2go, Nimbuzz to Facebook, WhatsApp and telegram. At the minimum, three things every chat service should provide are a way to mute chats and groups so as to avoid unwanted intrusion, a way to leave conversations without notifying the group so as to avoid being pursued all over the place, and way to keep active conversation from popping up at the top of your message list if you don’t want them to. All these would give users a better chatting experience which take security and sanity into consideration.

Although, WhatsApp is yet to give Users the ability to do all the three but at the very least Users can now mute group and individual conversations permanently on the instant messaging app. This will go a long way in preventing your device from being spammed with unwanted notifications.

Before now, the most every user can do in terms of muting is just to mute for one year. The funniest part of this is that a year is actually long but not too long a time. You would have forgotten that you have crossed into the new year and the next thing you see would be notifications from group and individual chats you are already used to not being part of.

To mute a chat permanently is quite easy and simple. First of all, make sure you are running the latest version of WhatsApp by updating on your Apple’s App store or the Google Play store as the case may be. After launching the updated app, long-press on a conversation you would like mute and tap the speaker-like icon with a line running through (mute) in the app’s top toolbar (for Android) or at the bottom of the Screen (for iOS).  

In the screen that appears next, simply uncheck “show notifications” and tap “Always”. Once you are done, you’ll cease to get notifications even if the group or the individual begins to add messages every minute.

 There is a shortcoming to this though, the chat would not go away or move below in the list of your messages if the chat happens to be the most recent. If you don’t want to have to deal with this then the deepest hand to deal is to exit the conversation or block the individual. This will show exit notification in case of a group chat. In case of Individual chat, if that your friend is very familiar with WhatsApp, he or she will know that the block button has been used.

 To do this is also quite easy, if you use an Android version just tap the triple-dot in the upper-right corner then tap on “More” and then select “Exit group”. For iOS just swipe left and you will be able to access the icon. These would take care of your group chats but in case of individual chat, just click on the chat and access the contact information and click “block” under the contact information. A piece of advice; blocking an individual can be offensive to the person on the other end. So, unless the person is extremely chatty don’t go that route.

Tried to mute a group permanently? Share your experience with us.

Author

Alabi Olusayo

 A calm, calculative, and easy-going individual with the ability to perform excellently in any position of intellect. A web designer/ developer, Digital Marketer, Brand Manager, Content developer, and Affiliate Manager. He is more of a listener than a talker with the passion for and to do things of God.

I find myself contented with Godly and goodly blessings with relentless efforts towards fulfilling purpose.