Group messages, and how to get out of one
Tell a group message from a private one, mute the ones that never stop, and leave without a scene.
A group message looks almost exactly like an ordinary one. The difference is that everything you write goes to everybody in it, including the people you have never met.
There are two ways out, and they are quite different. Muting keeps you in the group but stops it making a noise — the messages are still there when you choose to look. Leaving takes you out altogether.
Key points
- Spot a group by the several names, or the count of people, at the top
- Mute a group with Hide Alerts and stay in it without being interrupted
- Leave a group entirely, in two presses, from the same screen
- Remember that every reply in a group goes to everybody in it
What to remember
- Hide Alerts, or Mute on Android and WhatsApp, is the single most useful switch in messaging.
- To say something privately, go back to Messages and start a new conversation with that one person.
- On WhatsApp the group sees a line saying you left. On an ordinary text group, nobody is told at all.
Try this
Open the noisiest group on your own phone, press its name at the top, and turn on Hide Alerts. You will still see it. It will stop shouting.
Practice: Group messages, and how to get out of one. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.