WhatsApp rolling out new shortcuts to block contacts, says report

According to the report, one of these shortcuts will help in blocking an unknown number with which you have never chatted before, if it sends you a message.

WhatsApp is reportedly rolling out new shortcuts with which people can block users. This is according to WhatsApp news tracker WABetaInfo, which said that the feature has already been made available to select beta testers and will now be rolled out for some iOS beta testers.

Representational Image

WABetaInfo put out this screenshot to share more information on the new shortcuts.

Screenshot shared by WABetaInfo

As seen above, users get three new shortcuts, each of which will make it faster for them to block contacts. Of these, the first one (arrow pointing towards left) is available within the context menu under the chat preview, but is not visible for group chats. The second (arrow pointing towards right) is inside the chat options, while the third (arrow pointing upwards) appears when an unknown contact, with whom you have never chatted before, sends you a message.

However, regardless of the shortcut being used, the Meta-owned service will ask if you also want to report the number; for this, the last five messages from that number will have to be forwarded to the platform's content moderation team, which may ban that account if, based on your report, it concludes there has been a violation.

To use this new feature, users will have to install the latest update of WhatsApp beta for iOS from the TestFlight app.