WhatsApp is reportedly working on a feature that seems to be aimed at preventing spam and bothering callers on the widespread communication platform. While WhatsApp is widely used across the world, the service is based on phone numbers and a person can call any other registered user, even if they do not have their contact saved in their contact book. The new feature being developed by WhatsApp could stop annoying callers from disturbing users when it is eventually rolled out by the company.
According to WABetaInfo, which tracks the development of features on WhatsApp, the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android includes code for a feature that will let users mute calls from anonymous numbers.
The feature tracker has also shared a screenshot of the feature that reveals a Silence unknown callers toggle located in the settings menu. Allowing the toggle will silence calls from phone numbers that are not saved in the users’ contact book.
The feature will purportedly mute calls from strange users, they will still be shown in the list of calls received and in the notification area, so a user could aware that an unknown caller has tried to call out to them.
The feature could eliminate scam and spam calls on the service, and users can always choose to call an unknown caller back if they leave a message. The feature tracker also indicates that the setting could save users in Communities where the phone number of the creator is always visible.
There is no information yet on when it plans to introduce the new setting to silence unknown callers. While the feature has been spotted in development on Android, it is expected to make its way to iOS and the desktop app too.
