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That's an exciting promise! WhatsApp is constantly adding new features and it's easy to miss some of the less-obvious tricks.

Here are 13 surprising and useful WhatsApp features that you might not be using yet, based on some of the latest updates and long-standing hidden functions:

Privacy and Security

    Lock Specific Chats: You can lock individual, sensitive chats with a passcode, fingerprint, or Face ID, moving them to a hidden "Locked Chats" folder, keeping them private even if someone has access to your phone.

    Hide the 'Online' Status: Beyond hiding your 'Last Seen', you can now control who sees when you are 'Online' within the privacy settings.

    Silence Unknown Callers: Automatically silence calls from numbers not saved in your contacts to reduce spam and scams (you'll still see them in your call log).

    Protect Your IP Address on Calls: There's a new setting in Privacy > Advanced to route calls through WhatsApp's servers, which hides your IP address from your contact, adding an extra layer of privacy.

Communication & Productivity

    Edit Sent Messages: Made a typo? You can edit a message for up to 15 minutes after sending it instead of deleting it entirely.

    "Undo Delete for Me": If you accidentally hit "Delete for Me" instead of "Delete for Everyone," you have a few seconds to tap 'Undo' and retrieve the message.

    Pin Important Messages: You can pin a message (like an address, a date, or a password) to the top of any chat for quick access.

    Reply to a Group Message Privately: Quickly reply to a specific message from a group member in a private one-on-one chat without leaving the group conversation.

    Format Text: Use special characters to format your messages:

        *bold* for bold

        _italics_ for italics

        ~strikethrough~ for strikethrough

    Send HD Photos and Videos: When selecting media to send, look for the 'HD' button to send images and videos in better quality, avoiding the usual compression.

Media and Storage

    View Once Messages for Media: Send photos or videos that disappear from the chat once the recipient opens them, great for sharing sensitive one-time information.

    Create a Chat with Yourself: Start a chat with your own number (marked as "You") to save notes, links, files, and reminders that are synced across all your devices.

    Convert Voice Messages to Text (Transcribe): For times when you can't listen to a voice note, a new feature is rolling out (or available in many regions) to transcribe the audio into text directly in the chat.