1. Keep Your Creepers at Bay by Hiding the “last Seen” Stamp

WhatsApp's “Last Seen” timestamp is almost as horrifying as iPhone's read 📘 receipts, but the good 👍 news 📰 is that it's just as easy to turn 🎲 off. You don't want everyone knowing when you're on 🔘 the app, right? And if you're trying to avoid someone or ignoring someone's messages, you definitely don't want them to know you've been on 🔘 recently. So, if you use an iOS device, just go into your WhatsApp settings, go to Chat Settings, hit Advanced, and you'll see where you can turn 🎲 off 📴 your last seen timestamp. Unfortunately, Android users 👥 typically need to download a third-party app to turn 🎲 off 📴 their status. That's a bummer!

2. Get Rid of Those Tattle-tale Ticks

Those damn double checks, making it impossible to sneakily read 📚 someone's texts without replying! Not anymore, though. Finally, you can disable those tattle-tale tick 🕛 marks. Go into WhatsApp, head 👦🏽 to Account, hit Privacy, then go to Read 📙 Receipts and turn 🎲 off 📴 those little suckers. You can also simply switch your phone 📳 to airplane 💺 mode before you read 📕 a particular message – just make sure you close it before you turn 🎲 off 📴 airplane 💺 mode.

3. Back up 🆙 Your Chats in Case 💼 You Need Receipts

Hey, it happens. You need proof that someone said something or confessed to something, and you have the proof! But what if you can't find it? Not a problem on 🔘 WhatsApp, thank goodness. The app automatically backs up 🆙 all of your chats, or you can go into your settings and manually back up 👆 your convos – just in case.

4. Lock 🔓 down ⬇️ Your WhatsApp to Keep It Safe from Prying Eyes

Oh, the horror. What would you do if someone got into your WhatsApp chats? Stop ✋ even thinking 💭 about it, that's terrifying! As a matter of fact, you can lock 🔐 your app and stop ✋ any sneaky Peeping Toms right 👉 in their tracks. For this trick, you'll need a third-party app no 🙅 matter what device 📟 you use, but if you rely on 🔘 WhatsApp for your important or personal 📃 conversation, trust me, it's worth a download. Lock 🔐 for WhatsApp is the go-to for iOS users, while Android users 👥 typically go for WhatsApp Lock.

5. Keep Your WhatsApp Pics out of Your Camera 🎥 Roll

Why is this important? Well, let's say you sometimes take 🎬 personal 📃 or intimate pictures 📷 on 🔛 WhatsApp – you don't necessarily what them in your device's general camera 📷 roll. What if someone's scrolling through your photos? Head 👦🏽 to your main Settings, go to Privacy, then go to Photos and turn 🎲 off 📴 the switch for WhatsApp if you're using an iOS device. For Android users, it's a little more complicated – check ✔️ out #5 for a tip: hongkiat.com

6. Snatch Back 🔙 Your Deleted Messages

Accidentally delete a message you wanted to keep? Regret a hasty delete binge? Every day ☁️ at 4:00 am, WhatsApp backs up 👆 your messages. For iOS users, retrieving deleted messages is as easy as uninstalling and reinstalling the app, at which point ↖️ you'll be asked if you want to restore WhatsApp from its backup. Say yes! Again, the process is a bit more complicated for Android, but there's a handy tutorial here: techradar.com

7. Send 📠 a Bulk Private Message without Everyone Knowing

You know, sometimes you don't want everybody to know that they're receiving 📥 a group message or broadcast. You also don't want to send 📠 your private messages one 1️⃣ by one. Problem solved! All you have to do is use WhatsApp's broadcast 📡 function. Even though you're sending 📩 the same message to a bunch of people, each person 🚹 will receive it as a private message, with just the two 2️⃣ of you participating.

How many of these did you know? If you have any other awesome 👌 WhatsApp tips to share, let us know in the comments!