WhatsApp for Android update brings custom notifications for contacts, new emojis

WhatsApp has released an update of its app for Android with a many useful new features giving the users better control over notifications from individual contacts.

According to The Next Web, the update has added the ability to toggle the read status of for all users now. When the users press for long on a conversation in the Chats list, they can mark it as read or unread.

This feature will not affect the read status on messages within the user's conversation. It is only there to make it easier to spot or ignore them.

The users can see new options for custom notifications when they open up a conversation and tap View Contact. Also, there are settings for vibration alerts, lights, pop-ups and audio tones.

This will make it easier for the users to spot messages from important people without having to unlock their device.

The users can also mute conversations with individual contacts for preset periods like with group chats.

In addition, WhatsApp has introduced skin tone variations for several existing emoji.

When the users press for long on the hand emoji they can find them in pop-ups.

Also, the latest version brings an option in the Chats and calls menu to reduce data usage when making calls.