WhatsApp has been putting more of an emphasis on user privacy for a while now. It now provides end-to-end encryption for chats and calls, allowing you to protect your IP address. To better protect your privacy, WhatsApp has now included the option to deactivate link previews.
A choice to "Disable link previews" has been added to WhatsApp Beta versions 2.24.8.11 for Android and 24.7.10.76 for iOS, as reported by WABetaInfo. When you enable this feature, URLs you share will no longer have previews. However, previews for links shared by people who haven't activated this feature will still be visible to you.
Here's a short tutorial on how to activate the option, which is now accessible to users on the beta channel.
- Open WhatsApp and tap on the 3-dots icon at the top right corner.
- From here, go to Settings and then tap on the Privacy option.
- Now go to the Advanced section at the bottom of the page.
- Here, turn on the Disable link previews toggle.
The previews will no longer be shown to you when they are enabled. Below are some examples showing you how links will look in your WhatsApp messages, both before and after.
For those who are unaware, a link will display you a preview of the website or its home page when you copy and share it. Your phone accesses the website in order to generate this preview, giving the website's server access to your IP address. This won't happen thanks to a new feature in WhatsApp.
As previously said, certain users on both platforms can already access the service. Make sure the latest version of the WhatsApp Beta is installed on your smartphone before attempting to use it. If you've signed up for the beta program, you can do this straight from the Play Store; if you're using iOS, you can use the Testflight app to do this.
It might be useful for sending links when you don't want the preview to be shown in addition to privacy. A surprise link's contents may be hidden until it is clicked. Preview-less links may also be used maliciously by con artists by delivering them to users, who are forced to open them in order to see the contents. This may result in a much more serious breach of personal data.
What do you think of this feature, and is adding it something that would help users? Tell us in the comments below.