WhatsApp is a safe, reliable and practical mobile messaging application that effectively allows you to stay in touch with those around you through the free and unlimited exchange of messages, images, videos and audio messages.
WhatsApp has been getting a lot of media attention since Facebook bought the instant messaging service for $19 billion last year.The popularity of WhatsApp is constantly on the rise and with over 417 million users worldwide.

Here are some effective tips to use whatsapp

1.Create shortcuts for your important contacts

Creating shortcuts for your contacts on your home screen will greatly speed up your communication. If you are using Android, long press on the group/contact you want the shortcut for and when the menu comes up just click on Add Conversation Shortcut.

2.Get your notifications on your Desktop

To gain access to your WhatsApp notifications on your desktop, simply use Desktop Notifications. Install Desktop Notifications onto your Android device and then install either Chrome or Firefox extensions.

3.Hide when you were last seen online

WhatsApp has an automatic timestamp that tells users when last you were online. It is very simple to disable this feature.
If you are an iOS user, go into Settings > Chat Settings > Advanced and set Last Seen Timestamp to Off.
If you are an Android user, you will need to make use of a third party application like Hide WhatsApp Status which when you open your WhatsApp disables your mobile data and wifi connections, and when you close enables and syncs allowing your messages to send.
Another way to hide when last you were seen is to enable airplane mode before you read a message, preventing the last seen message from being updated showing you as not being online.

4.Check When a Message was Read

WhatsApp lets you check when a message sent by you was read first. It’s simple, as all you need to do is press hold on a message and tap “Info“. Once you do that, you will be able to see the time when your message was delivered and read.

5.Manage Auto Downloading of Media

While auto-download on WhatsApp is a convenient feature rather than manually tapping download every time a picture or video arrives but it can suck up your limited mobile data bandwidth. Thus, there are options to set that accordingly.
On Android, you will find the options in Settings->Chats and calls->Media auto-download. You can then set whether you want to auto download images, audio and videos on mobile data, WiFi and roaming.
On the iPhone, there’s only an option to either turn ON or OFF automatically “Save Incoming Media“.

6.Change WhatsApp Wallpaper

The same old wallpaper in WhatsApp’s chats can get a little monotonous after some time and that’s why WhatsApp lets you set custom wallpaper to spice things up a bit. The option to choose a wallpaper resides in Settings->Chats and calls->Wallpaper. You can choose to have a custom wallpaper from your Gallery or choose one from WhatsApp’s library.

7.Backup Chats on Local Storage or Google Drive/iCloud

WhatsApp has had the ability to backup chats on your device’s local storage but it recently rolled out a new feature, which lets you backup your chats on Google Drive (Android) and iCloud (iPhone).
To backup your chats, go to Settings->Chats and calls->Chat backup and tap “Back up”. The page also shows you your last backup and its size.

8.Use Less Data on WhatsApp Calls

WhatsApp call is a great feature but it does take up a lot of bandwidth and this the reason why WhatsApp included a low data usage mode recently.
On Android, you can turn on low data usage on WhatsApp calls by going intoSettings->Chats and calls->Low data usage. However, you will find the same option on an iPhone in Settings->Data Usage.

9.Read a Message Without Going Online

This is something we all want because at times, we want to see a certain message but we don’t want to go online. There’s a way for that and it’s very easy. After the message has arrived, simply turn off mobile data or turn on airplane mode on your device and then, open WhatsApp and see the message. Once you are done, come back to the homescreen and turn on your mobile data.

10.Mute Groups and Notifications

Groups on WhatsApp are a great way to message a lot of people at once but they can get annoying sometimes. Well, there are options to mute a group and you can also stop getting notifications.
To mute a group, Go to group info on WhatsApp and turn on mute. You can turn on mute for 8 hours, a week or even a year. On Android, you also get an option to turn off “show notifications” while muting a group. However, on an iPhone, you can only mute a group chat.