Latest WhatsApp beta adds Vacation Mode that allows you to ignore, fully mute archived chats

Damien Wilde | Apr 11 2019 - 5:51 am PT

When one of the most used and most popular messaging apps on the planet makes changes, it’s worth taking note of. The ever-popular WhatsApp is further testing a vacation mode that we had heard little about since last year.

Any regular users of the text message replacement service will know that being added to annoying group chats is one of the worst aspects of the messaging platform. Leaving a group is one solution, but that is broadcast to all members, which can lead to unnecessary awkwardness.

Luckily for those of us that use the messaging system daily, WhatsApp has been developing this “Vacation Mode” since last year. This mode will allow you to remain a member of the group, but ‘turn-off’ notifications. It will also stop them from appearing at the top of your message feed. In essence, hiding the group and any associated messages.

Unearthed by the folks over at WABetaInfo, the latest WhatsApp beta for Android (version 2.19.101) is the first time we’ve heard of this mode since it was mentioned way back in October 2018. Not only has this cropped up again, but we’ve seen a few new WhatsApp features added too.

Archived chats are now no longer hidden right at the bottom of your chat list. Instead, these get their own submenu for easier access. This is especially welcome if you have a ton of chats and will save a lot of scrolling time.

Vacation Mode too has been altered. It is now called “Ignore archived chats” — which makes way more sense. This new feature prevents new WhatsApp messages, causing groups to be unarchived when you receive a message. Previously, archiving wouldn’t prevent this and muting a chat would still have it appear at the top of your feed.

These new enhanced WhatsApp features are rolling out now to beta testers, so be sure to update soon.