WhatsApp finally learns to keep archived chats muted

WhatsApp has been very frequent with new updates in 2018. The app received new features like group calls and suspicious link detection to picture-in-picture (PiP) videos. It seems the company isn't done yet. Yes, WhatsApp-focused website WABetaInfo has claimed that the company is working on two new features: Linked Accounts and Vacation Mode.

As the name says, Linked Accounts will allow users to link their WhatsApp account with other services. It seems that the new feature is mainly built for WhatsApp Business, but references about the new feature were also seen on the main app.

Interestingly, WABetaInfo also suggested that the new feature will come in handy to recover your Facebook account. This also means users will be able to use Linked Accounts as a way to recover or automatically share updates to other services.

The first service to support Linked Accounts seems to be Instagram. Facebook owns both Instagram and WhatsApp, which means the new feature could be seen across platforms to maintain a kind of ecosystem between the three services.

Another feature is called Vacation Mode. Even though the app allows you to archive chats, WhatsApp automatically unarchives them once a new message is received. The new mode will let you keep archived chats the way they are, even when you receive new messages. The app won't notify about the new messages from the archived chats.

Vacation Mode can be accessed in the notifications menu in the app settings. The new feature is based on the new Silent Mode feature which prevents the app from displaying a badge when you receive a message from muted chats and groups. There is no word on when we will be able to see the new features on the app.

Besides, Vahan, a Bengaluru-based company, has built an AI-driven virtual assistant integrated with WhatsApp that helps businesses automate various aspects of workforce engagement. To apply for a job, a candidate simply needs to send a "hi" message to Vahan's phone number on WhatsApp following which the bot qualifies them, answers their questions and even schedules an interview.

The start-up has created the virtual assistant in English & local languages and has tied up with clients such as Dunzo, Club Mahindra, Cure.Fit, Ecom Express, and Flipkart.