The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20190805075019/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/whatsapp-business-app-download-android-google-play-iphone-features-a8167631.html
WhatsApp has officially launched a new app, called WhatsApp Business.
It’s completely separate to the standard version of WhatsApp, but it works in much the same manner – only its purpose is connecting businesses and customers, rather than friends and family.
The app is aimed at small business owners.
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It’s designed to make it easier for them to communicate with customers and manage their orders.
12 useful WhatsApp features you didn’t know existed
Show all 12
12 useful WhatsApp features you didn’t know existed
1/12 Unsend messages
You can unsend a message by tapping and holding it, hitting the Delete symbol and selecting Delete for Everyone. The feature works for all types of messages, but only if they were sent less than seven minutes ago.
2/12 Dodge the blue ticks
WhatsApp’s blue ticks show when sent messages have been read, but you can disable them buy going to Settings > Account > Privacy > Read Receipts. However, bear in mind that, by doing so, you’ll lose the ability to see when your own sent messages have been read. Another, more fiddly way of reading your messages without triggering the blue ticks, is enabling Aeroplane Mode before opening your messages - just remember to close the app before switching Aeroplane Mode off again.
3/12 Hide your 'last seen' time
Prevent your friends from finding out when you were last online by hiding your last seen time. Go to Settings > Account > Privacy > Last Seen. As is the case with disabling read receipts, hiding your ‘last seen’ time will also stop you from seeing anybody else’s.
4/12 Limit data usage
You can control how much data you munch through on WhatsApp by limiting the types of media you automatically download on a mobile connection. Go to Settings > Data Usage and choose the best option for you.
5/12 Customise notifications
If you’re expecting an important WhatsApp message from someone, set a custom notification for them by opening the chat, tapping their name at the top and hitting Custom Notifications.
6/12 Format your messages
To jazz up any of your messages, simply highlight it by tapping and holding it, hit the More Options key on the pop-up menu and tap the formatting option you want - bold, italic, strikethrough or monospace.
7/12 Type hands-free
You can get Siri or Google Assistant to type your WhatsApp messages out for you by saying either “Hey Siri” or “Okay Google”, followed by the name of the person you want to message and the actual contents of the message.
8/12 Mark chats as unread
When you’ve read a message but can’t reply to it straight away, you can set a visual reminder by marking it as unread. On Android, long-press the conversation, and on iOS, swipe from left to right on a chat.
9/12 Email entire conversations
You almost certainly won’t do this on a regular basis, but it’s a handy option to have. You can export entire conversations - complete with emoji and media attachments - by hitting More inside a chat a selecting Email Chat.
10/12 Mass-message contacts
You can send the same message to lots of your contacts without lumping them all into one group, much like the BCC option on email, by hitting the New Broadcast option on the app’s main menu.
11/12 Pin conversations
You pin up to three contacts and groups to the top of your WhatsApp conversation list by tapping and holding a chat, then hitting the pin icon.
12/12 Make things easier to find
You can easily mark key messages with a star, allowing you to find them easily when you need to. Just tap and hold a message and hit the star icon to save it, and return to it later by selecting Starred Messages in WhatsApp’s main menu.
1/12 Unsend messages
You can unsend a message by tapping and holding it, hitting the Delete symbol and selecting Delete for Everyone. The feature works for all types of messages, but only if they were sent less than seven minutes ago.
2/12 Dodge the blue ticks
WhatsApp’s blue ticks show when sent messages have been read, but you can disable them buy going to Settings > Account > Privacy > Read Receipts. However, bear in mind that, by doing so, you’ll lose the ability to see when your own sent messages have been read. Another, more fiddly way of reading your messages without triggering the blue ticks, is enabling Aeroplane Mode before opening your messages - just remember to close the app before switching Aeroplane Mode off again.
3/12 Hide your 'last seen' time
Prevent your friends from finding out when you were last online by hiding your last seen time. Go to Settings > Account > Privacy > Last Seen. As is the case with disabling read receipts, hiding your ‘last seen’ time will also stop you from seeing anybody else’s.
4/12 Limit data usage
You can control how much data you munch through on WhatsApp by limiting the types of media you automatically download on a mobile connection. Go to Settings > Data Usage and choose the best option for you.
5/12 Customise notifications
If you’re expecting an important WhatsApp message from someone, set a custom notification for them by opening the chat, tapping their name at the top and hitting Custom Notifications.
6/12 Format your messages
To jazz up any of your messages, simply highlight it by tapping and holding it, hit the More Options key on the pop-up menu and tap the formatting option you want - bold, italic, strikethrough or monospace.
7/12 Type hands-free
You can get Siri or Google Assistant to type your WhatsApp messages out for you by saying either “Hey Siri” or “Okay Google”, followed by the name of the person you want to message and the actual contents of the message.
8/12 Mark chats as unread
When you’ve read a message but can’t reply to it straight away, you can set a visual reminder by marking it as unread. On Android, long-press the conversation, and on iOS, swipe from left to right on a chat.
9/12 Email entire conversations
You almost certainly won’t do this on a regular basis, but it’s a handy option to have. You can export entire conversations - complete with emoji and media attachments - by hitting More inside a chat a selecting Email Chat.
10/12 Mass-message contacts
You can send the same message to lots of your contacts without lumping them all into one group, much like the BCC option on email, by hitting the New Broadcast option on the app’s main menu.
11/12 Pin conversations
You pin up to three contacts and groups to the top of your WhatsApp conversation list by tapping and holding a chat, then hitting the pin icon.
12/12 Make things easier to find
You can easily mark key messages with a star, allowing you to find them easily when you need to. Just tap and hold a message and hit the star icon to save it, and return to it later by selecting Starred Messages in WhatsApp’s main menu.
WhatsApp Business users can create a business profile and add details like the company’s website, location and contact information to it.
They can also message customers, send them updates and answer any questions they have.
“WhatsApp Business enables you to have a business presence on WhatsApp, communicate more efficiently with your customers, and help you grow your business,” the company says.
“With the app, businesses can interact with customers easily by using tools to automate, sort, and quickly respond to messages.”
WhatsApp Business has a similar logo to the regular WhatsApp app, but its green speech bubble badge contains a white B rather than a phone symbol.
Shortly afterwards, WhatsApp published an FAQ page, which clears up any potential confusion around the app.
“You can check your contact’s profile to see which type of account they’re using,” it explains.
A Business account with a green checkmark badge in its profile has been verified as “an authentic brand” by WhatsApp.
A Business account with a grey checkmark badge in its profile, meanwhile, has been confirmed to be using a phone number that matches the phone number of the business it claims to be owned and operated by.
A Business account with a grey question mark badge in its profile, however, indicates that the account hasn’t been confirmed or verified by WhatsApp.
You should, therefore, be wary if a Business account with a grey badge in its profile tries to contact you, even it appears to be associated with a company you know.
You can also block and report WhatsApp Business users. In the chat, tap the menu button and select Report Spam or Block.
WhatsApp Business is currently only available to Android users living in the UK, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico and the US. It’s available to download here.
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The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates.