iPhone tips for WhatsApp that you never dared to ask about

How do you hide chats? How do you message someone who has blocked you? In this week’s iPhone tips, we answer such questions about WhatsApp (that you never dared to ask).

iPhone tips for WhatsApp that you never dared to ask about

With this week’s iPhone tips you can prevent people from reading your WhatsApp messages and retrieve deleted messages. Take advantage of it and get started right away!

Do you always want to stay informed of the latest tips for your iPhone? Then sign up for our newsletter so you discover new features every week!

1. Prevent others from reading along

Notifications of WhatsApp messages are in principle visible to everyone by default. Previews those messages only if your iPhone recognizes your face via Face ID or is unlocked. The moment you give your iPhone to someone else, incoming messages are visible to that person.

Even if you have an Apple Watch and are near your iPhone, your iPhone may be unlocked for others. That’s why we’ll show you how to turn off previews in these iPhone tips:

2. Recover deleted messages and chats

There are all kinds of reasons why you would delete WhatsApp messages. But what if it wasn’t meant to be? Don’t worry, because you can then get them back quite easily. You just have to be quick. You can read how it works in number two of these iPhone tips:

• Open the WhatsApp app and tap ‘Settings’ at the bottom right;
• Then tap ‘Chats’ and choose ‘Backup chats’;
• Check when the last backup was made. Does this fall within the time your deleted WhatsApp messages were sent? Then you can get them back.
• In that case, close WhatsApp and delete the app from your iPhone;
• Download WhatsApp again from the App Store;
• When installing, choose to restore the last backup.

Are you unable to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages? There is a good chance that the chats have been permanently deleted. It is impossible to conjure up these conversations (legally), so it is best to try to prevent this in the future. You do this by setting up an automatic WhatsApp backup.

3. Message someone who has blocked you

If someone has blocked you, you can of course no longer send them a message. At least, not with WhatsApp. If you copy the telephone number from the contact list, you can of course simply send a text message. But in number three of these iPhone tips we have another way.

It is also possible to create a new account with a different number on the same iPhone. Since you’re using the same phone, you can still access your old contact list. But for WhatsApp it looks like you have created a new account. To do this, go to ‘Settings’, choose ‘Account’ and then ‘Change number’.

4. Hide a chat

You can hide an individual chat or group chat in the Chats tab by archiving the chat. Archived chats remain archived even if you receive a new message. You can access your archive at the top of the Chats tab.

To archive a chat, simply swipe your finger over it to the left. A green button with ‘Archive’ will appear on the right. Therefore, tap to actually archive the chat. If you want to archive all chats at once, do this as follows:

• Open WhatsApp and tap ‘Settings’ at the bottom right;
• Tap ‘Chats’ and then ‘Archive all chats’;
• Tap Archive All, then tap Archive All again.

5. Use Due Date Messages

We conclude this week’s iPhone tips with the option to set your messages to automatically disappear after a certain time per chat. That feature is called Expired Messages, and it works with all messages you send, including photos and videos. You set it up as follows:

• Open WhatsApp and open the chat in which you want to use the feature;
• Tap the contact’s name at the top;
• Tap ‘Messages with due date’;
• Choose from ’24 hours’, ‘7 days’ and ’90 days’.

The shortest possible time you can set is 24 hours. This means that the recipient has a lot of time to save your message in another way. That is something to take into account.

More iPhone tips?

Did you like these iPhone tips and want more? On iPhoned you can read useful tips and tricks for your iPhone every week. Check out the most recent tips below!

• iPhone tips for WhatsApp that you never dared to ask about

• This is how you send a  Apple logo as an emoji to your friends

• New on Netflix and Apple TV Plus: check out our tips for June 2024

• iPhone tips: 6x this makes for a better Spotify experience

• I always put my iPhone upside down in my pocket (here’s why)