WhatsApp will soon let you hide your ‘Last Seen’ status from specific contacts

WhatsApp is developing more options for privacy, soon to allow users to determine which users can see when they were last online, their profile photo and ‘about’ description. — AP

WhatsApp is improving its Last Seen feature to allow users to hide when they were last online from specific contacts.

Leaker site WABetaInfo reported that the messaging service is reworking privacy settings, which will allow users to decide who can see certain details about their profile when interacting on WhatsApp.

These details include the user’s profile photo, their “about” description and Last Seen status.

According to WhatsApp’s official site, Last Seen informs users about when a contact was last online, or if they’re currently online.

“If a contact is online, they have WhatsApp open in the foreground on their device and are connected to the Internet. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean the contact has read your message,” it explains.

Currently, users can set their Last Seen to be visible to “everyone”, “my contacts” or “nobody”.

If a user hides their Last Seen, they will not be able to see others’ Last Seen status either.

WABetaInfo said the new feature introduces another option called “My contacts except...”, so all contacts except the chosen few will be able to see when they were last online.

The same rules apply: if you disable Last Seen for specific contacts, you won’t be able to see when they were last online too.

This works somewhat like a block list where users have to choose which contacts they want to omit this information from.

The “My contacts except...” option will also apply to other profile information, including users’ profile photo and their “about” description.

The feature is currently still under development for iOS and Android, and is expected to be rolled out for beta users soon.