WhatsApp’s monthly user base is growing to nearly two billion by now. Besides instant messaging and sending stickers and GIFs, the messaging platform includes a few hidden treasures and features.
WhatsApp for iPhone requires some slight movement around the app, unlike its counterpart (Android), which offers options and settings that make it easy for its users.
Did you know that WhatsApp for iPhone has built-in gestures to navigate through its features and options quickly? But only when you get the hang of the gestures easily the whole experience will turn out productive.
In this article, we’ll look at the top 14 tricks to use WhatsApp for iPhone like a pro.
These tricks are highlighted below: Download WhatsApp for iPhone
1. Pin Chat
After using WhatsApp for iPhone for quite a while, the app’s home screen fills up with chats.
Keeping track of the most important of them can become a time-consuming process, mostly because you will have to scroll through them whenever you want to reply or revisit a particular chat.
Thankfully, the app offers a ‘Pin option’ which allows you to stick a conversation to the top.
To get this feature, swipe left on any chat thread to see the Pin option. Then tap on the Pin, and the conversation will appear on the top of all chats with a tiny pin icon on it.
2. Read/Unread Conversation
Avoiding a chat is somehow tricky in the case where you want to let the sender know that the chat has been read, but it has not.
Marking read for a chat thread is very easy; you can either swipe left or open a conversation and then select the Read option.
The trick comes in handy, as I mentioned earlier at the beginning of this trick. You can also follow the same gesture to mark the chat unread.
3. Mark Read All
We all have had one of those busy days where we don’t have time to check our WhatsApp messages.
Later, going through so many messages and group chats individually makes it feel like a chore. But luckily, you can get around it.
You can tap on Edit, and then select the chat threads, and press the “Read All option” at the bottom corner to mark the pending messages as read.
That will help whenever you are trying to avoid scrolling through group chats.
4. Read Receipt
On iOS, one can easily take a look over the read receipt of their messages. To do that, you can quickly swipe left on any message, and the following screen will show two crucial details, “a time of message delivery and when the recipient read it.”
5. Archive Chat
Instead of deleting your chats, you can de-clutter your WhatsApp home screen by hiding them.
To do this, you have to swipe right on any conversation and then tap on the Archive Chat option.
On Android, the archive list is accessible by scrolling till you get to the bottom of the chat list, but on iOS, it’s easily reachable with just a single gesture.
To do this, you must swipe downward or perform a pull-down gesture on the WhatsApp home screen to reveal the Archived Chats option under the search box.
6. Mute Chat
The option to mute chats is perfect for people who love their quiet. Some contacts can be annoying with random messages. But with the Mute option, you can avoid those unnecessary distractions while working.
There are two different ways to enable this option. Either you can tap on the contact name from the conversation and then press the mute option at the bottom.
Or you can swipe to the left on the contact’s chat thread from the WhatsApp home screen, then tap on a three-dot button and finally tap More, and then select Mute. You can repeat the same procedure if you choose to Unmute.
7. Export Chat
Switching from Android to iOS or reverse won’t transfer all your WhatsApp messages successfully.
However, there is no easy way to move your messages officially because the official WhatsApp doesn’t support cross-platform backup using Google Drive.
That is where the Export chat option comes to the rescue.
To carry out this process, you have first to swipe left on any chat thread, then tap on More, and afterward select Export chat.
WhatsApp will then go ahead to provide you with an option to attach or exclude a media file (photos, videos, and documents.), after which you have to choose either of the options; you will get the Share sheet to select an app for sending the copy of exported chat.
8. Delete Chat
Deleting an unwanted chat thread from your WhatsApp is easy. To do this, swipe left on the chat you want to remove, then tap on More with three dots, and afterward, select the Delete chat option.
9. Quick Reply in Chat
In 2018, WhatsApp introduced to their app, the ability to reply to a particular message with a swipe gesture.
To use this feature in a chat, swipe left on any message you have received, and you can directly start composing a reply to that message.
10. Search for a Message
What if you are in a scenario where you want to find a message and don’t want to stress yourself by scrolling through conversations?
WhatsApp has an option that lets you look for a particular word or term by going to the search box. A quick swipe-down gesture at the home screen will reveal the search box.
Also note that the search box hides in two separate scenarios, when you have force-quit your app or when you reboot your iPhone.
When you type in a relevant term/text in the search menu, you will find search results that reveal chat threads at the top and single messages with the search keywords in bold.
11. Private Message from a Group Chat
This feature was introduced for WhatsApp for iPhone (v2.16), so you can now be able to reply privately to a specific message from the group chat.
This feature allows you to chat privately with someone in a group without any conversations appearing on the group chat thread.
You can reply to that message privately and engage in a private chat instead of asking questions in the group.
To use this feature, long-press the message in a group chat to reveal a rollover menu, then tap on More and select Reply privately.
WhatsApp will start a direct conversation with the person automatically, and the private chat will contain the message you have selected along with the group name.
There you can compose a reply and start a private chat.
12. Add Stickers to Images
Last year, the sticker support was added to WhatsApp. And with the recent update of iOS, you can add these stickers to images before sending them.
Earlier, WhatsApp only allowed annotating images with color filters and texts. Now you can add stickers to give your photos a personal touch.
13. Using 3D Touch to Peek Conversation and Status
Last but not least, WhatsApp finally added the ability for iOS users to ‘Peek and Pop,’ a status with 3D Touch on only supported iOS devices.
To use this feature, you can merely long-press on any status from the WhatsApp contact, and a message pop out to give you a quick peek.
Also, you can perform a 3D Touch action on any chat thread to quickly take a look at a recent chat with the other person.
Take note that when you view a status using the 3D Touch feature, the contact won’t get notified that you have seen their status.
14. Lock using Touch ID/Face ID
With its recent update, v2.19.20, the messaging app received support for using Face ID and Touch ID on iPhones.
Now you can be able to lock and unlock your WhatsApp using the default biometrics on your device.
To activate, navigate to Settings > Account > Screen Lock. Then switch on the option.
In Conclusion
I remember some years ago when WhatsApp received some flak for being too simple; that has changed in the past two years.
The instant messaging giants are gradually bridging the gap between casual and power users.
The addition of the 3D Touch feature and the Peek and Pop API for the nifty gestures is also a welcome change.
iPhone users, especially those using iPhone 6s Plus and above, can use these tips to save them more time and make their WhatsApp experience pleasant.
Do you have any tips or tricks that is missing from my list? Please do let us know by using the comments section below.
