WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.18.15: what’s new?
WhatsApp is rolling out a new update through the Google Play Beta Program, bringing the version up to 2.23.18.15.
What’s new in this update? WhatsApp is working on a new privacy feature to protect the IP address in calls, and it will be available in a future update of the app!
| Common questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Name of the feature? | Protect IP address in calls |
| Status? | Under development |
| Availability? | WhatsApp is working on bringing a protect IP address feature for calls to a future update of the app. |
| I’ve installed this update but I don’t have this feature. Why? | This feature is under development so it’s not ready for beta testers, but you can discover a preview in this article. |
| Thanks: | Swakshan, for collaborating, testing, and reporting! |
| Previous news? | WhatsApp for iOS 23.17.71: what’s new? WhatsApp is widely rolling out a feature to send higher resolution images! |
PROTECT IP ADDRESS IN CALLS
In the article about the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.10.7 update, we announced a new privacy feature available to calls: a silence unknown callers option. With this feature, WhatsApp wanted to provide users with a new option to easily mute calls from unknown senders, although they were still visible in the Calls tab and in user notifications. It seems that WhatsApp wants to implement new features for calls in order to offer a better privacy and security experience. In particular, after installing the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.18.15 update from the Google Play Store, we discovered that WhatsApp is developing a privacy call relay feature, and it will be available in a future update of the app!
As you can see in this screenshot, WhatsApp has plans to add a new feature right within the privacy call settings screen. Specifically, this new option works like a privacy relay feature for calls, that makes it harder for people in the call to infer your location by securely relaying through WhatsApp servers. However, since WhatsApp servers will securely relay your connection while placing a call, the call quality may be affected slightly when this privacy option is enabled. This trade-off between enhanced privacy and potential minor degradation in call quality is a result of the encryption and routing processes through WhatsApp servers involved in the privacy relay feature.
In our opinion, WhatsApp aims to provide its users with an extra layer of protection against any potential attempts to track their physical location based on call data by implementing this feature. As a result, users will be able to experiment with more secure calls through the privacy feature, ensuring that their location information is effectively safeguarded. This enhanced protection makes it significantly more complicated for anyone to deduce your precise location when it will be released.
The protect IP address feature for calls is under development and it will be available in a future update of the app. As always, we will publish a new article when we have further details about this feature to share with you.
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