WhatsApp Re-Testing 'Clear Badge' Feature for Unread Messages

[MacRumors]

WhatsApp is retesting a recently nixed setting that lets users choose whether the app automatically clears the unread message count badge on its Home Screen icon after every launch.

WABetaInfo reports that the feature is controlled by a new toggle in WhatsApp's iOS notification settings, called "Clear Badge." The setting carries the description: "Your home screen badge clears completely after every time you open the app."

The option, which is already available in WhatsApp for Android, should serve to reduce clutter on the user's Home Screen, and potentially lessen "unread anxiety." WABetaInfo notes that the feature may have already appeared for some users in the past few weeks, including those on the stable release from the App Store. However, for reasons that remain unclear, WhatsApp decided to disable them shortly after their initial release.

The feature is currently making its way through beta testing again via TestFlight, so expect it to roll out to all WhatsApp users in the coming days.

Article Link: WhatsApp Re-Testing 'Clear Badge' Feature for Unread Messages

 

[deg0ey]

Isn’t that how it always worked? Most annoying thing about WhatsApp is that if you leave a message to read later the badge disappears and you have to remember to go back to it on your own unlike almost every other app.

 

[AndyUnderscoreR]

Perhaps Microsoft could do something similar and add an 'actually count the number of unread messages properly' setting to Outlook?

 

[Trausner]

Wow, cant wait to have this feature on my WhatsApp iPad app… oh!

 

[RossMacca]

My WhatsApp works like this at the moment so I’m not sure what this means? I’ve got a few chats with unread messages so see the red badge on Home Screen. I open WhatsApp but don’t go into any of the chats. The red badge is gone.

 

[OhFrenchman]

Yes, and you can disable that behavior, the setting has been present for a while. Just disable "Clear badge" in the Notifications settings of WhatsApp.

 

[SanderEvers]

Yeah, this is sometimes quite annoying. Since especially with larger groups you might not read all messages, which keeps the badge on the app icon.

 

[revfife]

I know it has a big user base in the rest of the world, but the only thing I've seen WhatsApp used for in the states is spoofing phone numbers and scam artists. I know several people who have had their instagram accounts hacked through WhatsApp spoofing.

 

[alayal]

Yes, and you can disable that behavior, the setting has been present for a while. Just disable "Clear badge" in the Notifications settings of WhatsApp.

I have missed this feature, it is the most annoying thing about WhatsApp and now it solve, thank you!
Hopefully some day they add a AW app…

 

[joeblow7777]

That's nice, but I wish they would just make an iPad app already.

 

[contacos]

I wish Apple had a universal setting for read notifications. Every time I touch my iPad, I am being greeted with a million notifications, dating back days, which I have already cleared on my iPhone.

Somehow this actually works with WhatsApp, even between iPhone, Android and MacBook. I read the message on one device, it turns to read on the other devices yet apps like instagram … nope

 

[Blackstick]

I speak to extended family in Spain, Colombia and Israel over WhatsApp. Beyond that, it's a scammer's paradise. Nobody I know living in the US uses it to chat with anyone within the country.

 

[thefrost]

How nice of Zuckerberg to let us decide if we want that little unread badge to disappear. I bet he’s just being nice and not at all calculating how many times we check our apps. /s

 

[applefan8254]

can we have:

usernames
email signup + phone free accounts
2 primary devices - they could do this with an option on the login screen sub-menu with an option to tell the app that you're logging into your second primary devices. from there, you could link another 5 devices with that.
edit button that works forever instead of just a few minutes - give us complete control of our own digital footprint

 

[whatgift]

Isn’t that how it always worked? Most annoying thing about WhatsApp is that if you leave a message to read later the badge disappears and you have to remember to go back to it on your own unlike almost every other app.

Yes, but there's never been a way to turn it off (so it works like every other messaging app), so this is most welcome for me!

 

[svish]

Should be useful. These features should have been made available a long time ago. Wonder why it takes such a long time.