One of the most requested feature for WhatsApp in the Android platform is the ability to hide your “Last Seen at” date and time from others. Although there were some hacks to get that feature but none of them were perfect and you couldn’t rely on them.

But soon after WhatsApp’s acquisition by Facebook (for $19b), They have officially updated their Android client to add the following privacy features:

Last seen Profile photo Status

You can control the above listed items with 3 privacy options (i.e show them to).

Everyone My contacts Nobody

Don’t you think this is similar to how Facebook lets you select “who can see your status blah blah”? They give you the “Only Me, Friends, Public” options.

Anyways to enable these privacy features, You need to update your WhatsApp to the latest version (i.e 2.11.169 or above). At the moment, The update hasn’t been rolled onto the PlayStore so we have to update it manually.

Manually updating WhatsApp to the latest version.

Step 1. Download the latest WhatsApp APK.

Step 2. Transfer it to your Android SD Card.

Step 3. Open Android Settings > Security > Tick the “Unknown sources” box.

Step 4. Browse to your SD Card > Open the WhatsApp.apk.

Step 5. Ignore the warning and click on Install.

Now you have updated to the latest WhatsApp android client. Next you need to visit the privacy settings and ‘hide your last seen at’ or profile photo or status from others. To do that.

Hiding WhatsApp’s Last Seen at, Profile Photo and Status..

Step 1. Open the updated WhatsApp client from your App drawer (menu).

Step 2. Click on the three vertical dots at the top right corner > Settings > Account.

Step 3. Next you will see that there is another option in the list namely ‘Privacy‘. Click on it and you will get all the privacy options, If you would like to hide your last seen at on WhatsApp, then select the ‘Last seen‘ option.

Step 4. Choose a privacy option from the following:

Everyone : Everyone will be able to see your Last seen at, Profile photo and Status. This is the default option. My contacts : Only the people in your Contact list will be able to see your Last seen at, Profile photo and Status. Anyone else who has your Phone number and tries to look you up will not be able to do so unless you have their number too. Nobody : No one will be able to see your Last seen at, Profile photo and Status. Not even the people you chat with daily.

Step 5. Done.

Note : When you choose a different privacy option such as “Nobody” then you won’t be able to see other people’s ‘Last seen’ too. Unless you switch back to Everyone or My contacts.

Now that you have learned how to hide WhatsApp’s last seen at, Profile photo and Status, Take time to review the privacy settings on your Social Network profiles.

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