WhatsApp, the messaging platform owned by Meta, is rolling out a new feature aimed at protecting users from unwanted calls. The feature allows users to easily toggle a setting that will silence calls from spam and nuisance callers.
By activating this option, users will no longer be disturbed by calls from numbers that are not in their contact list.
The decision to implement this feature follows reports from several users in India and other regions who had been receiving spam calls from unknown numbers, causing inconvenience and frustration. Many individuals took to Twitter to express their concerns, leading to Minister of State for IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, announcing that the IT Ministry would issue a notice to WhatsApp.
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In response to these complaints, WhatsApp had previously stated that it was enhancing its spam detection systems using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to reduce scam and spam calls by at least 50 per cent.
The introduction of the new feature is expected to further alleviate the issue and provide relief to users who have been plagued by unwanted calls.
The feature itself ensures that calls from unknown contacts do not ring on the user’s phone, effectively preventing any disturbances caused by unsolicited callers. However, notifications of these calls will still be displayed within the app and in the notification area, ensuring that users do not miss any important calls from unknown individuals.
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To enable the feature on Android, users can navigate to the three-dot menu within WhatsApp, select “Settings,” then “Privacy,” and finally “Calls.” From there, they can toggle the “Silence unknown callers” option to activate the setting. iPhone users can achieve the same by tapping the gear icon within WhatsApp, accessing the settings menu, selecting “Privacy,” and then “Calls” before enabling the “Silence Unknown Callers” option.
The new feature has been observed on the latest stable versions of WhatsApp for Android and iOS, as confirmed by Gadgets 360. Its implementation aims to enhance the overall user experience and diminish the inconvenience caused by spam and nuisance calls.