Whether it’s about a simple chat or a group video, WhatsApp is the app that is on our “speed-app list. The messaging app has a variety of features that have entered in the past decade only to make communication better. Also Read – WhatsApp challenges Indian government, says new social rules put an end to user privacy

While there are tons of major features that have and will make their entry, we can’t neglect the little things on the app that make chats convenient and easy between two people, in WhatsApp’s case even in a group. Therefore today, we take a look at the small WhatsApp features that have been in existence for a while and prove to be helping hands for us. Also Read – Explained: No, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram will not stop working in India from today

WhatsApp features for easy chats on Android, iOS

Message formatting
Sending plain messages seems like a tale of yore! WhatsApp has ditched the concept and tries making things a lot interesting. With a simple touch of “bold, italics, underline” the text you send to a person can mean differently as opposed to the otherwise simple text. Also Read – WhatsApp says, it will not limit features even if users don’t accept new privacy policy

This also helps in determining the importance of a message. For instance, enabling the bold option can put emphasis a lot better on the need for bringing yoghurt from the market. If you don’t know how this works, here’s what to do. While sending a WhatsApp message, long-tap on it to get a number of options. including the B/I/U option. You can select it, make your choice, and the formatting is now applied.

Starred Messages
Oftentimes, we send and receive messages that are of importance. It might be a bill or maybe a list you need to buy stuff. This is when the ‘starred message’ feature comes in handy. You can ‘star’ the messages, much like it happens on Gmail and then access those messages from a standalone section to keep all the prominent messages under one roof.

To do so, just double-tap any message in a chat, select the ‘Star’ option, and it’s done. To access the starred messages, you can either head to the individual chats and find the option after selecting the person’s name or head to the ‘Starred Messages’ section in the Settings menu.

Message Search
This is something that has proven to be a boon. Hundreds of messages in a chat can make you lose previous ones. But, the message search on WhatsApp allows you to look for them and continue talking about it or possibly remind people of something that they forgot.

You just need to tap on the name of the person you are talking to, scroll down a bit to get to the Chat Search option, tap on it, and just type in the keywords to look for a particular option. It might be a small task but at least you will find what you are looking for.

Message quoting
Since the texting back and forth continues on WhatsApp for most of us, it sometimes gets difficult to reply to the message that was sent 5 to 6 messages ago. This is why we have the option to quote messages on WhatsApp. This allows you to reply to the message the answer is meant for, which ensures an easy flow of communication.

All you need to do is swipe the message you want to reply to, enter your reply, and just send. Pretty simple, right?

Pin chats
Among the many WhatsApp features that are available, the ability to pin chats help us keep the important chat windows close to us. This is like speed-dial for WhatsApp. This way people you chat with the most don’t get lost in the plethora of WhatsApp messages you may receive.

To pin a chat, just swipe right (on iOS), select the pin chat option, and you are good to go, On Android, you can long-press on the chat head, select the pin chat option, and the job’s done. Yet again, a simple yet useful trick.

Disappearing Messages
The latest feature to have made its entry into the WhatsApp land to make things easier for us, it the vanishing messages. WhatsApp has extended the disappearing nature of photos and videos to its messages (much like it has been happening on Snapchat for a while now) so that we can delete the messages that we don’t wish to keep.

For this, you just to enable the feature with the same name by tapping on the chat name, scrolling down, and selecting the option. Once enabled, the messages in that particular will disappear after seven days. WhatsApp is planning to introduce more setting options for the same.

Delete for Everyone
Mistakenly messaged the boss with a text that can cause you trouble? WhatsApp’s ‘Delete for Everyone’ feature allows you to rectify just that. If you have sent a message inadvertently, you can simply long-press it, select the delete option, and the ‘delete for everyone’ option so that the recipient doesn’t see it.

The catch over here is that the feature is available only for an hour after the message is sent. Once the 1-hour window is closed, you won’t be able to delete the message for the other person. So, be quick!

Encryption
In addition to the various helpful WhatsApp features, the most important one is end-to-end encryption. This capability ensures our privacy and doesn’t allow WhatsApp to access the messages being exchanged between two people.