Game of Thrones season 8 and Avengers: Endgame broke millions of hearts last month. The reason behind this trend isn’t just the way the two series ended but also because the endless stream of spoilers – especially the ones circulating on WhatsApp — ruined the experience by revealing the key plots of the show (and the movie) to those who missed out on the first opportunity to watch them. And now, the release of Dark Phoenix has sparked similar concerns among the fans and fanatics.
WhatsApp is arguably one of the most popular social messaging apps in the world. People exchange millions of text messages, videos, images and GIFs on its platform everyday. These message, apart from holding relevance to the sender and to the receiver, acquire more significance when popular TV shows and movies are released. Spoilers in the form of reviews, memes GIFs and other articles circulating on WhatsApp often wreak havoc among the fans.
But did you know, you can avoid all these spoilers using some cautionary steps on WhatsApp? Well, if you have been burnt by GOT and Avengers spoilers before and you want to escape the heat in case of the Dark Phoenix (or any other TV series or movie) that you love here are a couple of tips and tricks that will help you dodge all the spoilers on WhatsApp:
Tip 1: Turn off Notification Previews
We all are addicted to our smartphones and we all (well, almost all) are addicted to WhatsApp. This means that no sooner do we hear our phones ping, we pick it up to check the message. This often means seeing a large part of the message – including the spoiler — in the preview section of the app. Well, you can simply turn off notification previews to keep the spoilers at bay.
Here’s how you can turn off notification previews:
– Open WhatsApp.
– Tap on three dots on the top right corner of the app.
– Tap on Settings.
– Tap on Notifications.
– Toggle Use high Priority Notifications in Messages and Groups.
Tip 2: Block Contacts
We all have that one (or may be two) friend who is the first to watch all the cool movies and shows and then pesters us with all the spoilers. Friendship is surely important but a ruined movie or TV series is catastrophic. It’s an experience that you can never take back. Simply put, once you know a key detail about your favourite movie, you can never ‘not know’ it. One of the easiest ways to deal with such a situation is by blocking your friend on WhatsApp. Here’s how:
– Open WhatsApp.
– Open the chat you want to block
– Tap on three dots on the top right corner of the window
– Tap on More > Block.
Once you block a contact, you would not see any message from the blocked contact in your WhatsApp chat window. However, you will still be able to text or call your friend.
To unblock a friend, follow these steps: Open the blocked contact > Tap on three dots on top right corner of the window > Tap on More > Tap on Unblock.
Tip 3: Mute WhatsApp Status
Spoilers on WhatsApp not only come in the form of messages but also in the form of WhatsApp Status updates. If your friend frequently shares spoilers on their WhatsApp Status, you can mute mute their WhatsApp status (instead of blocking them outright).
Here’s what you need to do:
– Go to WhatsApp Status.
– Tap on a contact’s status.
– Tap on Mute option and you are good to go.
Tip 4: Customize group notifications
Here’s a thing about buzzkill friends. They not only flood you personal chats and their own WhatsApp Statues with spoilers but they also share spoilers on WhatsApp groups. If you want to salvage your movie / TV series experience, you need to stay vigilant all the time. And the easiest way to do so besides all the cautionary steps I have mentioned above is by customising individual or group notifications, and setting a different tone for their messages.
Here’s what you need to do:
– Go to your WhatsApp Group.
– Tap on the group name.
– Long press on the contact > View contact.
– Tap on Custom Notifications option.
– Select the tone.
Once you do so, you will have a special message tone reminding you that your special friend – who is famous for sharing key plots – might be on to another spoiler (on the group on otherwise) now.
Tip 5: Turn Off auto download
Accidents happen all the time. And accidents on WhatsApp usually mean that you have seen an image or a meme which is the key to the story of the movie or TV show. But you can avoid all that by simply turning off auto download in WhatsApp. (Tip: This will also save you a lot of space in future.)
Here’s what you need to do:
– Open WhatsApp on your smartphone.
– Tap on three dots on the top right corner of the app.
– Tap on Settings.
– Tap on Data and Storage usage option.
– Select No media option in all the three settings under Media auto-download option and you are good to go.
Happy WhatsApp-ing folks!
[“source=indiatoday”]
