In what is sure to be music to the ears of those sick of having irrelevant memes sent to them every 30 seconds by people you barely know, you’ll soon be able to leave WhatsApp group chats without anyone finding out.
Whether it’s a group made up of extended family members you see only see twice a year, colleagues at work, mutual friends you’re not really that keen on, or people you only met one time because you were at the same pre-drinks together before a night out, most of us are part of a WhatsApp group chat we’d rather not be.
The type of group chat you’re not really sure how you became a part of, and the type of chat you’ve got no clue how to politely leave.
And a big part of the reason most of us can’t bring ourselves to leave those groups is because, the second you do, a little notification pops-up at the bottom of the chat to notify everyone else that you have “left” – which can, understandably, be pretty awkward and embarrassing.
Luckily though, WhatsApp and Mark Zuckerberg – who is chief executive of the messaging service’s parent company, Meta – is soon to introduce a handful of new changes designed with the aim of making written messages as “secure as face-to-face conversations”, and one of those changes is allowing people to leave group chats without other members in the group finding out.
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You’ll soon be able to leave WhatsApp group chats without anyone finding out / Credit: Pixabay
The company says that now only administrators of the group will receive a notification to inform them a member has exited the chat.
On top of that somewhat life-saving change, the other changes being introduced will allow people to control who can see when they are online, and also prevent screenshots being taken by other users of auto-deleting ‘View Once’ messages.
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At present, the messaging service broadcasts to all contacts of a user when they are online and have the app open, but now, this is something that users will be able to choose to share with others.
WhatsApp had also previously-warned users to “only send photos or videos with ‘View Once’ media enabled to trusted individuals”, as it was possible to take a screenshot or screen recording of the message before it disappeared – but now, the act of taking screenshots will be prohibited.
In his post announcing the new WhatsApp updates, Mr Zuckerberg explained that the company will “keep building new ways to protect your messages and keep them as private and secure as face-to-face conversations.”
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It’s part of a number of new changes aimed at making messages as “secure as face-to-face conversations” / Credit: Eyestetix Studio (via Unsplash)
Meta has stated on a number of occasions that it believes end-to-end encryption is the only way to ensure users are able to message each other without a third party eavesdropping on them.
Mr Zuckerberg announced his plans to transform privacy on WhatsApp in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal back in 2019, and made it impossible for Meta itself to read the content of messages that users share, which is similar to how it cannot access the content of WhatsApp messages.
However, these changes have not yet been implemented across Meta’s other platforms.
“We believe WhatsApp is the most secure place to have a private conversation,” added Ami Vora – Head of Product at WhatsApp.
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“And to spread the word about these new features, we’re also kicking off a global campaign, starting with the UK and India, to educate people about how we work to protect their private conversations on WhatsApp.”
‘Danger to life’ amber wind warning issued for Greater Manchester as Storm Éowyn arrives
Emily Sergeant
Storm Éowyn is expected to bring very strong winds and widespread disruption to Greater Manchester later this week.
In case you hadn’t heard, the Met Office named Storm Éowyn yesterday, and confirmed that it will begin to influence the UK’s weather from early on Friday – with strengthening winds initially expected in the south west first, accompanying heavy rainfall, before it quickly spreads to the north and the rest of the UK as the morning progresses.
An amber warning for wind has been issued for large parts of the UK, including the majority of Greater Manchester, for most of the day on Friday.
#StormÉowyn has been named and is forecast to bring strong winds to much of the UK on Friday and into Saturday.
Coming into effect from 6am this Friday (24 January), the weather warning his means that power cuts are likely to occur, transport services will be affected with delays and cancellations, and there is a chance that buildings could be damaged.
Worse than that though, there’s even a ‘danger to life’ too, with potential injuries occurring from flying debris.
Speaking ahead of Storm Éowyn’s arrival in a couple of days time, Mike Silverstone, who is the Deputy Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “Storm Éowyn will bring a period of very unsettled, potentially disruptive, weather to the UK through Friday and into Saturday.
Warnings for strong winds, heavy rain and snow are in place across many parts of the UK during Thursday, Friday and into the weekend ⚠️
“The strongest gusts are likely to be felt across parts of Northern Ireland, northern England, northwestern Wales and western Scotland, where exposed sites could get gusts in excess of 80mph, which has the potential to cause impacts for those in these areas.
“There will also be some heavy rain, bringing some unpleasant conditions to end the week.”
The initial warning for Storm Éowyn has been issued several days in advance, so it’s important to stay up to date with the forecast on the Met Office website here in the coming days.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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The 2025/26 Premiership Women’s Rugby season has been delayed
Danny Jones
The next Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) season has been officially delayed by nearly three weeks.
Announced on Tuesday, 21 January, the decision has been taken in an effort to help promote the Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC), the proximity of which is rather close to the national union championship competition.
With sporting bodies also trying to nurture a growing interest in female rugby, the start of the next PWR season will be pushed back not only to give players more time to rest but in an effort to drive a larger audience to the WRWC as well, the final of which is being played here in England.
The hope is that it will also better the Red Roses’ chances of winning the international tournament in turn – fingers firmly crossed.
Get excited 🤩
The PWR 2025-26 Season will officially kick off on Saturday 25th October PLUS the PWR Cup will return 🙌
The conclusion of the international tournament is taking place at Twickenham Stadium in London on 27 September, just days before the 2025/26 Premiership season was due to start.
Local side Sale Sharks are sadly at the bottom of the table this current campaign, which kicked off on 5 October 2024 and ends this March, but with eyes already on the WRWC the focus for lots of players in the division will no doubt already be shifting.
Not only is the domestic women’s rugby season being delayed by nearly three whole weeks – meaning the first games won’t happen until 25 October – but this comes after the current schedule of fixtures was also reduced with player recovery in mind ahead of the World Cup.
Speaking to BBC Sport, the PWR’s operations manager, Amy Walmsley, said: “The Rugby World Cup is a generational moment for women’s rugby and will create a huge opportunity for both PWR and our clubs to grow and celebrate with their fans.
“The optimum time between the Rugby World Cup Final and our first league match will ensure we capitalise on what we already know will be the biggest and best World Cup ever, while also ensuring player welfare with adequate rest across the season.”
The stats back it up too as 2024 saw numerous milestones for the women’s game; in addition to record crowds at the Olympics, last year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations was the most viewed on record with 8.1 million fans tuning in, not to mention an increased interest among 18-24-year-olds.
You can find the run-down of the Sale Sharks Women fixtures below:
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝘂𝗻 𝗜𝗻
All of our fixtures for the 24/25 season are locked in. Let's bring that Northern roar to every game #SharksFamily 🦈
As for the final of the Premiership Women’s Rugby, the date has been reverted to its usual window in June, which should also fit within what congestion remains.
Nevertheless, with the Women’s Six Nations in late April and England – who have won all but one of their last 51 games – set to begin their World Cup on 22 August, the margins are still going to be somewhat fine if they are to head into the tournament in the best shape possible.
With the tickets selling extremely well, the expectation is that the Rugby World Cup final break is set to break the world record for the best-attended women’s rugby fixture in history.
In the meantime, Greater Manchester is gearing up for the men’s action as the Six Nations gets underway at the end of this month and the city is boasting the perfect place to watch it.
Emily Sergeant -
9th August 2022 
