WhatsApp’s five easiest tricks every user should know

WhatsApp which is possibly the most popular instant messaging app often appears very simple. The app serves its purpose of being a fast and intuitive messaging app but it also comes with some nifty features many users may not be aware of.

These features are all available on WhatsApp and can come pretty handy for people who are very frequent on the app. Here, we'll talk about the five easiest tricks every WhatsApp user should know.

Convert videos into GIF

WhatsApp in-app camera lets users take photos and videos and send them to their contacts. A feature many people may not be aware of is that WhatsApp has a built-in GIF tool. Yes, you can make GIFs directly on WhatsApp without any third-party app. To use this feature simply record a video, then select the GIF icon on the top right corner. You can choose the duration of the clip for your GIF.

Share WhatsApp Status as Facebook story

Facebook allows multi-platform sharing of Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status on Facebook. Sharing your WhatsApp Status as your Facebook Story is possibly the easiest trick on the app. Once you upload a WhatsApp Status, there will be an option to share as Facebook Story just below. Tap on this and your photo or video will be uploaded as your Facebook Story.

Starred messages

WhatsApp becomes a bank of important chats and messages with friends, family and even colleagues. With so many messages being shared, it sometimes becomes difficult to trace ones that are important. There's an easy trick to keep important messages separate for future reference. If you think there are messages which are important and cannot be buried, you can simply star them. Long press the desired message and tap on the star icon above. You can then check these messages under 'Starred Messages' tab.

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WhatsApp lets users keep maximum privacy by hiding last seen and even turning off read receipts. However, not many people wish to do that. There is a workaround on reading messages without letting the sender know. To do this you need to turn your flight mode on, read the messages and turn flight mode off. Also remove WhatsApp from your recent apps section. The messages will appear unread to the sender.

Change font, italicize, strikethrough

Changing fonts on WhatsApp is probably the most creative you can get. You can make your text italics, bold or put a strikethrough by following these simple steps. To make your chats bold, put an asterisk at the start and end of the text, and to italicize insert underscore. To put a strikethrough on your text insert the tilde symbol at the start and end of your text. The changes will be visible in the text bar before you enter send.

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