Soon, you won’t need to open WhatsApp app to mark messages as read

WhatsApp has added a new action to its notifications on Android for users to mark messages as read without opening them.

WhatsApp’s latest feature is available for beta users on Android only. (Shutterstock)

WhatsApp has started testing a new feature on its beta app for Android. WhatsApp users will now be able to mark their messages 'read' from the notifications itself.

The new feature is currently available only for WhatsApp beta users on Android, and it comes with the latest update. If you're not a beta user you can become one by enrolling yourself into the programme following this link. The process will take only a few minutes and you'll become a beta tester for Android.

You can always opt out of the beta programme by uninstalling the testing version, and downloading the public version of WhatsApp from Google Play Store.

WhatsApp's 'mark as read' option will be visible in the notification of every message users receive. Once you tap on the option to mark your messages as read, the said action will follow with the notification disappearing. In addition to this, users can also reply to the message within the notification itself (for Android Oreo users only).

A screenshot of how WhatsApp's 'mark as read' feature looks. (HT Photo)

A screenshot of how WhatsApp's 'mark as read' feature looks. (HT Photo)

WhatsApp's testing of this feature comes shortly after Telegram also rolled out this feature. Similar to WhatsApp's Telegram users on Android can also mark their messages read from the notifications.

Features rolled out on WhatsApp beta usually make it to the stable version hinting that this would be widely available too. Just yesterday, the messaging app rolled out group video and audio calls for users globally on iOS and Android. WhatsApp beta users had access to this feature since June. WhatsApp users can add up to three participants on an audio or video call turning it into a group conversation.