WhatsApp will soon let you hide your 'Last seen' status from specific contacts - Android Police

WhatsApp may have a controversial privacy policy change behind it, but despite users threatening to leave the service, it seems like it's too big to fail. While the latest beta update doesn't do much to fix the privacy concerns surrounding the messenger's parent company Facebook (errr, Meta), it will at least help you stay more private when it comes to other individuals using the app. As per WABetaInfo, WhatsApp beta version 2.21.33.14 is rolling out an option that lets you to hide your Last seen status from specific contacts.

In the current stable release, WhatsApp only allows for three options for sharing your Last seen status. You can either let everyone with your number see it, only people saved to your contacts, or nobody. The new solution makes it simple to keep sharing your Last seen status with the vast majority of your friends and family members, while giving you the option to exclude people you definitely don't want to know you're on WhatsApp during work hours.

Other messengers have long solved this problem, albeit with their own twists. For example, Telegram reverses WhatsApp's approach and lets you choose specific contacts that you always want to share your Last seen status with, which makes more sense to me. That way, you can curate a small list of trusted friends and family members, which seems simpler to me than singling out all your business contacts, overbearing parents, and other individuals you don't want to share your status with.

Right now, this change to Last seen sharing hasn't rolled out widely in WhatsApp, though, as the functionality is part of a server-side switch. If you want a chance to get in on the rollout early, you can download the latest WhatsApp beta version over at APK Mirror. Usually, you'd also be able to sign up for it via the Play Store, but it looks like the official testing program is currently full.

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Manuel Vonau (1488 Articles Published)

Manuel is a tech enthusiast and Android fan based in Berlin. When he's not writing articles for Android Police, he's probably out and about as a videographer.