WhatsApp is arguably the most used communication application not only in Kenya but the world at large. 

Is there a story unfolding in your community? Let Hivisasa know

Many groups and contacts chat on WhatsApp can make you miss important communication and spend more on bundles. 

However, some common WhatsApp tricks could help you save time and money.

Here are seven WhatsApp tricks most people probably didn't know about : 

1. Create your own WhatsApp group 

Open WhatsApp main menu, hit "new group", add just one contact then remove the contact. 

You can then save your important details in your group for easy access,  e.g. shopping list.

2. Mark key messages

In a very active group, a good advertisement, for example, can be overshadowed by many subsequent chats. 

You can make such kind of messages easy to find by marking them using a star. 

Tap and hold the message, hit the star icon to save it. 

You can later find it in the starred message in WhatsApp's main menu. 

3. Limit data usage

You can control what media your WhatsApp can automatically download both on mobile connection or Wi-Fi.

This saves your storage space and bundles. 

Go to settings>Data Usage then choose the option that suits you. 

4.Mass-message contacts

You can only forward messages to a maximum of 20 contacts in WhatsApp. 

However, the broadcast option provides a larger contact number you can send messages to. 

Just hit the New Broadcast option on the app's main menu.

5.Type hands-free

Say your hands are involved in something else like washing dishes, and you have to reply to a conversation. 

Get Siri or Google Assistant to type your messages by saying "Hey Siri" or "Okay Google", followed by the name of the contact you want to message, then the message you want to deliver. 

It's like killing two birds with one stone.

6. Customize notifications 

This helps, for instance,  when you are expecting a special message from a particular person. 

Open your chat with that contact,  tap their name at the top then hit custom notifications. 

7. Pinning conversations

For example,  you may be in many WhatsApp groups,  but you have two very important ones, you can prioritise them. 

WhatsApp allows you to pin up to three groups and three contacts so that they appear at the top of your WhatsApp conversation list. 

Tap and hold a chat,  then hit the pin icon.

All these tricks will help you save time and money in different ways.

#MyLifestyle