This WhatsApp feature you will not get on Android or iOS now

Almost every week we hear about a new feature being tested by WhatsApp. Most of these features take months and years before they are finally rolled out for public usage. However, several of these are eventually abandoned and the latest one to be thrown in the trash bin is the ‘Vacation Mode’ - despite it being in testing stage for a long time now. This feature has been in development since 2018 for WhatsApp’s Android and iOS apps.  

If rolled out, the feature would have allowed users to mute archived chats so that they remain hidden as they’re supposed to. The Facebook-owned platform had been testing the feature for almost two years and has finally decided to ditch it.  

According to WABetaInfo who discovered this Vacation Mode, WhatsApp has “abandoned” this feature. The WhatsApp tracker tweeted that this was a feature under development but WhatsApp isn’t working on it anymore. Vacation Mode has been in testing but even public beta users couldn’t access it. 

“Vacation mode was a feature under development for iOS and Android some months ago. The development has been abandoned,” the tweet read. 

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If rolled out then it would be available as “Ignore archived chats” on the app. This feature would be visible in the notifications section of WhatsApp. As of now, the archived chats go to the bottom but whenever there’s a new message in that archive chat it brings it back up on top.  

WhatsApp's archived chats feature is however different from muting chats as those remain in the same order. When you mute a chat on WhatsApp, it appears chronologically and doesn't drop to the bottom like archived chats.  

Meanwhile, the platform is working on another feature that will allow you to search the web to check the authenticity of frequently forwarded and viral messages. The feature comes as the company’s latest effort to stop fake news and dissemination of misinformation of incorrect facts on the platform. Users in Brazil, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, UK and US using the latest version of the app on Android, iOS and WhatsApp Web will start getting the feature first while still in the development phase.