One of the most popular apps on smartphones is WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned instant messaging app, which is becoming a more comprehensive, multi-purpose platform.  Here is a quick update on what’s up with WhatsApp:

Users can group voice and video up to four people

Most recently it announced that it now allows group voice and video calls between up to four people (learn more here). WhatsApp voice and video calls use your phone’s internet connection and data plans instead of your cell plans voice minutes.

New features to help your business grow

The company recently announced a new feature specifically for small businesses. WhatsApp Business is an Android app which is free to download; it allows businesses to interact with customers easily by using tools to automate, sort and quickly respond to messages.  You can even create a business profile.  You can learn more here.

While looking ahead to new options, it’s smart to make sure you can make the most of the ones you have now.  Here are a few under-appreciated WhatsApp features:

Users can delete sent messages and also read deleted ones

You can delete sent messages using the “Delete for Everyone” feature by selecting the particular message and clicking on “Delete.”  The message in question will be replaced with the “This message was deleted” message in both the sender and recipient’s chat.  (However, recipients can still read deleted messages using third-party apps like Notification History and WhatsRemoved.)

Share where you are with Real-time Location

Lost? Running late and want your lunchdate to know how close you are to the restaurant?  Share your location in real-time with contacts/groups. Just click on the “attachment icon” within the chat and choose “Share Live Location” for 15 minutes/1 hour/8 hours. You can add comments or cancel “location-sharing” anytime.

Learn what WhatsApp has on you with Account Info Report

You can discover what WhatsApp has collected on you by requesting your “Account Info Report,” collected from under Settings>Account>Request Account Info. It shows details like the user’s phone number, profile photo, device type, name of device manufacturer, previous IP connection, all the contacts’ numbers (including blocked ones) group names and more.