As digital communication becomes ever more central to how people gather and relate, WhatsApp has quietly expanded the tools its users carry into those spaces — offering not just the ability to be heard, but the ability to shape how one is seen. This week's updates, arriving amid the platform's ongoing rivalry with Zoom and Google Meet, address two enduring tensions in modern connectivity: the chaos of shared virtual rooms, and the desire to curate one's presence for different audiences. In distributing call moderation across all participants rather than a single host, WhatsApp gestures toward
WhatsApp Expands Group Call Controls With Muting, Messaging, and Privacy Features
Any participant can mute any other participant
Mark
So WhatsApp is letting people mute others during calls now. That seems like it could get messy—who decides who gets silenced?
Mimi
That's the interesting part. It's not just the call organizer. Any participant can mute any other participant. It distributes the power instead of putting it all in one person's hands.
Luke
Do we know if there's any notification when someone mutes you? Like, does the person being silenced get told, or do they just suddenly realize no one can hear them?
Mimi
The source doesn't specify that. It just says you can mute someone and send them a message, but whether they get an alert about being muted isn't detailed.
Mark
And the privacy controls—you can hide your profile photo from specific people. Is that new, or has WhatsApp always had that?
Mimi
This is new. Before, privacy settings were more all-or-nothing. Now you can pick and choose which contacts see your photo, your about section, and your last seen status.
Luke
But only from your existing contacts, right? You can't hide from someone who's not in your phone?
Mimi
Correct. You're selecting from your contact list. If someone's not there, you can't granularly control what they see.
Mark
When does everyone get these features?
Mimi
They're rolling out incrementally across iOS and Android. Could be days or weeks depending on your device.
Luke
And if you don't update the app, you won't get them at all?
Mimi
That's what the reporting suggests—you need the latest version to access the new controls.
Der Puls
- Group calls on WhatsApp have long suffered from the familiar disorder of unmuted microphones and cross-talk, and users have had little recourse beyond public appeals to silence.
- The new mute feature breaks from convention by giving every participant — not just the call's creator — the power to silence others, redistributing control in a way that challenges the traditional moderator model.
- A companion feature lets any participant send a private message to a specific caller without leaving the call, cutting through disruption without creating new ones.
- Alongside call controls, WhatsApp now lets users hide their profile photo, about section, and last seen status from specific contacts individually — a shift from blunt, all-or-nothing privacy settings.
- Group call capacity has grown to 32 participants and group sizes to 512 members, with a new visual alert when someone joins mid-call, signaling WhatsApp's ambition in the enterprise and large-community space.
- The rollout is incremental across iOS and Android, meaning some users will wait days or weeks — updating to the latest version is the only way to move to the front of the line.
As digital communication becomes ever more central to how people gather and relate, WhatsApp has quietly expanded the tools its users carry into those spaces — offering not just the ability to be heard, but the ability to shape how one is seen. This week's updates, arriving amid the platform's ongoing rivalry with Zoom and Google Meet, address two enduring tensions in modern connectivity: the chaos of shared virtual rooms, and the desire to curate one's presence for different audiences. In distributing call moderation across all participants rather than a single host, WhatsApp gestures toward a more collective model of order — small in design, but meaningful in implication.
WhatsApp rolled out a meaningful set of updates this week, targeting two persistent pain points: the disorder of group calls and the bluntness of existing privacy settings. The changes come as Meta's messaging platform continues to press its case against rivals like Zoom and Google Meet.
The most notable addition is the ability to mute other participants during a group call — and crucially, this power belongs to everyone on the call, not just whoever started it. Any participant can tap another's name or video tile and choose to silence them or send them a private message, all without leaving the call. WhatsApp head William Cathcart highlighted the mute function on Twitter, framing it as a practical fix for the all-too-common forgotten microphone. The peer-to-peer nature of the control is a quiet but significant design choice, spreading responsibility across the group rather than resting it with a single moderator.
These call features arrive alongside an expansion of WhatsApp's capacity: group calls now support up to 32 participants, group chats can hold 512 members — double the previous limit — and a new visual indicator alerts users when someone joins an ongoing call.
On the privacy side, WhatsApp is moving away from one-size-fits-all settings. Users can now decide, contact by contact, who is allowed to see their profile photo, about section, or last seen status. It's a more deliberate approach to managing one's digital presence — useful for anyone navigating a contact list that mixes friends, businesses, and people they'd simply rather keep at a distance.
Both feature sets are rolling out incrementally on iOS and Android. Users eager to access the new controls should ensure they're running the latest version of the app, though full deployment may take days or weeks to reach everyone.
WhatsApp rolled out a set of updates this week aimed at making group calls less chaotic and giving users finer control over who sees what on their profiles. The changes arrive as the messaging platform, now owned by Meta, continues to compete with rivals like Zoom and Google Meet for dominance in video communication.
The headline feature is straightforward: during a group call, you can now mute other participants if they forget to do it themselves—a common frustration in any video meeting. But the tool goes further. You're not limited to just silencing someone; you can also send a direct message to a specific person on the call without dropping out or disrupting the group. William Cathcart, who heads WhatsApp at Meta, announced the changes on Twitter, framing the mute function as particularly useful when someone forgets to silence their microphone. Notably, this power isn't restricted to whoever started the call. Any participant can mute any other participant, which distributes control across the group rather than concentrating it with a single moderator.
The mechanics are simple enough. To mute someone, you select their name or video tile during the call and choose from options to either silence them or send them a private message. It's the kind of friction-reduction that matters in practice—no need to type out a public message asking someone to mute, no need to wait for them to notice. Just handle it.
These call controls arrive alongside a recent expansion of WhatsApp's group capacity. The platform now supports up to 32 people on a single call, up from previous limits, and allows groups themselves to grow to 512 members, double the earlier ceiling of 256. For large meetings, WhatsApp has also added a visual indicator that alerts participants when new people join the call, so you're not caught off guard by a sudden influx of faces.
Beyond the call features, WhatsApp is rolling out new privacy controls that let you be selective about what different contacts can see. You can now choose, person by person, whether specific people in your contact list are allowed to view your profile photo, your about section, or your last seen status. It's a granular approach to privacy—useful if you want to hide from businesses, banking accounts, or simply people you'd rather not engage with on the platform. Rather than a blanket setting that applies to everyone, you get to draw lines around individual relationships.
Both sets of features are beginning to roll out across iOS and Android, though the deployment appears to be incremental. That means not everyone will see them immediately. If you want to access the new muting, messaging, and privacy controls, make sure you're running the latest version of WhatsApp. The rollout could take days or weeks to reach all users, so patience may be required.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
You can now mute or message specific people on a call, great if someone forgets to mute themselves— William Cathcart, Head of WhatsApp at Meta
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