Want some privacy? Go invisible on WhatsApp

PRIYA PATHAK   |  PRIYAPATHAKVIEW

LAST UPDATED: DEC 31, 2015

NEW DELHI

 EMAIL AUTHOR

In the good old days, when everyone was using Google Talk aka GTalk, it was easy to go invisible whenever. To seek some private moments, away from all the pings coming from friends (and foes), all you had to do was toggle the invisible mode in the Google Talk.

Now, when the world has moved to WhatsApp, it is no longer easy to become invisible. We understand how annoying it can be with continuous pings disturbing you while you are taking your power nap or busy playing some game on your phone.  Now you may think why not turn of the mobile data and be done with WhatsApp? Yes, you can. But then turning the data off will also stop some services that you want to access, such as work emails or crucial prompts from your stock broking app.

There has to be some way to seek momentarily peace on WhatsApp, some way to have some privacy. Well, it is not as easy as toggling the invisible mode in GTalk but there are ways. We explain:

1.  Hide your Last Seen:  By hiding your "last seen" feature, you will definitely get some peace of mind. Once the feature is disabled, it takes away the pressure to respond to messages immediately. To turn it off, go to the settings option in your WhatsAppand select account. Under the Privacy tab, change your Last seen to "nobody". Voila! Now nobody knows when were you last seen on WhatsApp. Of course, you also won't be able to see the same information for others. But then that is a small price to pay for some peace. Right?

2.  Hide your Status:  Follow the same process. Settings > Privacy > Status > Nobody. Done! Your status won't be visible to anyone now.

3.  Hide your profile photo: This one is more to avoid the stalkers, girls (and boys). Don't want your sweetest-friend-turned-bitterest-enemy to see your latest party photos on WhatsApp? Turn off the feature. Go to Settings > Privacy > Profile Photo > Nobody. That is all.

4. No Blue Ticks please: The Blue Ticks can be very annoying. The ticks basically mean that you have read the messages, which automatically mean that you are there online! And then if you are online, you are also supposed to respond to the message right away. Or else you childhood friend would be so so offended. No? So, take the drama out of life and disable the Blue Ticks. Go toAccount > Privacy > Uncheck Read Receipts box.

5. Snooze or pause WhatsApp: Okay, this one is a gem of a tech tip. Unfortunately it is only for Android users. Currently, there is no way to pause WhatsApp. At least, not within the app. So if you temporarily want to not receive any messages on WhatsApp, you can do that through Android's app settings. Here is what you need to do: Go to Setting > Apps > WhatsApp > Force Stop.

Once you have force stopped WhatsApp, it won't be able to connect to internet even if you have a working data connection in your phone. You won't receive any messages. The app will be frozen. Once you are ready to come out of your hibernation and love the world again, just tap on the WhatsApp icon on the phone and open the app. It will resume its duty and messages will again start coming.

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7 tips to keep your WhatsApp chats private and safe 

Chat smart! 10 tips that will make you WhatsApp expert

PRIYA PATHAK   |  @PRIYAPATHAKVIEW

LAST UPDATED: SEP 07, 2016

NEW DELHI

 EMAIL AUTHOR

WhatsApp has become a lifeline for almost smartphone user since its launch in year 2009. It is the most popular chat app in the world and has over 1 billion monthly active users. But while a lot of people use WhatsApp, not everyone is keeping track of all the new features the app has got in the last several months.

Also Read: WhatsApp on Windows: How to use it

In fact, since the beginning of this year the number of features coming to WhatsApp has grown at a rapid pace. Nowadays, almost every two weeks there is a new WhatsApp feature. So what does that mean for you, the WhatsApp user? You are probably not using WhatsApp in a very smart way. But worry not, we tell you some tips that will help you get most out of WhatsApp. To start with, 10 tips. 

1. Tap to speak: Don't want to type those lengthy and boring messages? That's fine. WhatsApp has a feature to help you deal with this. Simply, press the 'mic' button in your keypad and now dictate your long messages to the app.
2. Find out who has read your message in a group chat: Not everyone reads a message at the same time in a group chat. And those double blue ticks, they appear only when the message has been read by all in the group. So now you can know who has read your messages and who hasn't. Just tap and hold on the message, and then tap the Info option. You will see the message details like the exact time it was delivered and read.
3. Reply to a specific message: Do you have a friend who quick fires messages? Like one question and then before you can answer that, another question. To make it less confusing, you can answer the specific messages. Press on the message you want to answer, select the 'reply' button, and then type and send your response. It will appear with the original message so that the context is not lost.
4. Create shortcuts for important contracts: You can create shortcuts for your important contact on your phone's home screen. All you have to do is go the contact's chat window > Settings > More > Add Shortcut. You can now see the shortcut on your phone's home screen.
5. Stylise your messages: You can add some style -- or highlights -- to your messages using bold, italics, and strike-thrus. For e.g. *Hi * for bold, _Hi _ for italics and ~Hi ~ for strike-thrus.
6. Mute the noisy group notifications: Continuous messages in a group can be a annoying. Here's what you need to do to mute those irritating notifications. Tap on a group name > tap on Mute and then select how long you want to mute the group
7. Broadcast live feature: With festivals coming you may want to send a message to several friends at once. You can do this using this feature. Go to the Chats screen, tap on the menu button and then 'New broadcast' to choose the contacts you want to send the message. So party on Friday? Invite all your friends with single message.
8. Send a map of your location or nearby places to let someone know where you are or suggest a meeting place: To do this, tap on the share icon and then send your location or search for a place. Your GPS should be turned on before you send the location.
9. Personalise your WhatsApp: You can change the wallpaper of your WhatsApp. You will find this option under settings.
10. Search your WhatsApp chat history: You can search for a precise message in your chat thread. Go the contact's screen where you want to find the message. Tap the option button > Search > Type the text you are looking for. The app will fetch in the search term along with the conversation it came in.

Also Read: WhatsApp is more private now: Everything you need to know in 10 points

Jio 4G one week later: The charm is gone and so has the speed

MANISH SAIN   |   @FAT_GRIZZLY

LAST UPDATED: SEP 12, 2016

NEW DELHI

 EMAIL AUTHOR

Reliance Jio had started its Preview Offer in May this year, but that was only for a limited number of people, mostly Reliance employees. Soon after that the Jio SIM was available to people if they had a Lyf, Samsung, or LG phone. And a little before its public launch on September 5, the Preview Offer SIM was virtually available to everyone.

But the actual launch, and that too ought to be called beta until the commercial plans come from the January 1, 2017, happened only on the September 5.

Now, when not too many people were on the network, that is before the mid August, the Jio was a service incredibly fast. But using the Jio SIM when almost everyone has it or is trying to get, is an entirely different issue. And for most parts Reliance Jio Welcome Offer, which started from September 5, doesn't feel all that special, not anymore.

Also read: Reliance starts moving Jio users from Preview Offer to Welcome Offer

Crazy fast in beginning

A freebie is a freebie and you can't really complain about it. Having managed to obtain the SIM a few days before September 5 as part of the enterprise plan, I felt like the king walking around the customers who were in queue at Reliance stores. The next surprise came when I popped in the SIM into the phone. It was already pre-activated. To test the service, I used the SIM in two phones -- LeEco Le 2 and Moto X Play smartphone.

Also read: Reliance Jio SIM ground report: 1 SIM for 8 people and a wait of 50 days

Initially, on September 5 the butter-smooth speed of Reliance Jio was like seeing a dream in 4K resolution. After watching YouTube videos at 720P for about an hour I got back to the normal browsing and chatting that I do on my phone. There was no buffering, everything was fast and all was well and good.

Then at about 11 in the night, the network just disappeared. Entirely. No bars, nothing. It stayed like that for the next two hours or so.

After September 5

Once others started using Reliance Jio, which is an assumption we are making considering that the Welcome Offer opened to all on September 5, the network turned sluggish. It became kind of a hit & miss affair. Normal browsing and chatting is still smooth more or less. It takes about 1-2 seconds to load Facebook on my phone's browser, which is good. The same goes while opening links or other websites.

I was downloading all the media on WhatsApp, while streaming music on Gaana app. On my earlier connection, which was from Aircel, doing something like this was nearly impossible. But on Jio it is possible.

Unfortunately, not always. It is possible only when you are in a room or somewhere stationary. If you are on the road or in the metro, the Jio performance is similar to what you get with other operators. In other words, streaming music on an app like Gaana will pause intermittently while inside the metro.  

Downloading new apps from Google Play Store showed a new kind of a problem, which I have never encountered before. The "downloading" bar kept on running without showing remaining size to be downloaded. However, it started downloading the way it should once I was stationary. This is strange.

While downloading big images and movies from Google Drive was also a painful experience at times. At first it showed a speed of 80-150kbps, which is okay, then went up to 600kbps, which is around 6mbps. This is far lower than Jio's advertised speed, but is something you can call decent until it stays near its higher limits. But the bigger problem is fluctuations. It is inconsistent.

Also read: Jio 4G SIM now available to all: Everything you need to know

While on hotspot

Hotspot is also another thing that may give you moments of happiness and sadness alike. It is irregular to say the least. During the use I found that speed plummeted and rose on its own accord. If that was not enough, hotspot also caused the network to disappear from the phone. It reappeared after some 10 to 15 minutes.

Also read: Got the Jio SIM? Here is how to use it in best possible way

Calls are bad

Free calls are not worth it if you can't talk. Reliance Jio app bundle has an app named Jio Join -- now called Jio4GVoice -- that allows you to make VoLTE calls. Just like WhatsApp calling. We tried both. Jio4GVoice was mostly good, the voice quality dropped at times but it wasn't bad enough to be unusable. WhatsApp calling wasn't a pleasant experience. There was a noticeable lag during the call. Breaking voice is also something we noticed quite often during the WhatsApp call.

Coming to the normal calling, don't even try this. A normal call over Reliance Jio network is stuff of nightmares. The whole conversation sounds like your friend is speaking in Morse code. Unless you know how to decipher Morse code, don't call from Reliance Jio network to a number that is on Airtel or Vodafone. We don't know the reasons. We don't know whether the fault is with Airtel, Vodafone and others, something that Reliance has alleged or if it is a problem with Jio. But the issue is very real and consumers do suffer for this.

Also read: Reliance Jio vs Airtel and others: Jio data is cheap but not by much

To sum it up

Officially, Reliance Jio 4G has completed a week among public and with every passing day more users are joining the network. While Reliance Jio's promise of 25mbps is attractive enough, it also cannot be denied that the company is having a hard time providing that speed to everyone.

But do keep in mind that these are early days for Reliance Jio. Although on paper, the company seem to have impressive infrastructure, this Jio launch of September 5 needs to be considered with some context: and that context is this is a sort of beta launch, a very final testing phase for the Jio network. The problems are expected with this network. That is the reason why the Jio services are free till December 31. We don't know how this is going to play out in the future. Will it get better? Will Jio deliver on its promise? Or will it get worse, as more and more people join the network? We will have to wait and watch. But until the Jio services go commercial, and for that the date is January 1, consider that every service from Jio is part of a big beta testing.

Update: We have heard from Jio sources who say the problems highlighted in this piece are not widespread and are only limited to a few consumers. Also, the issues are set to be resolved soon as Reliance fine-tunes the network, they say.

Airtel, Voda, Idea cut tariffs, bundle plans as Jio's commercial launch nears INDIATODAY.IN LAST UPDATED: SEP 01, 2016 NEW DELHI EMAIL AUTHOR Reliance Jio Telecom operators Airtel, Vodafone and Idea have cut tariff and bundled free calls with data to drive mass market adoption as the Jio threat looms. With the official launch of Jio nearing, its rivals have left no stone unturned to lure the customers. The industry has been trying various data pricing strategies, with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea trying innovative price structures. Market leader Bharti Airtel yesterday announced two plans with data tariffs effectively lower by an eye-catching '80 per cent'. But the Rs 51 per GB data versus industry norm of Rs 250-plus comes with the caveat of an upfront payment of Rs 1,498 for a year. This essentially translates into 30 per cent saving for someone using 1 GB per month data and 37 per cent for 2 GB a month users. "In the past, 'high upfront charge, low recurring recharge' kind of plans have rarely found mass market appeal, more so when the benefit is spread out over a year. So we conclude that the addressable market for tariff cut plan appears quite small," Credit Suisse said. Also Read: Guide: How to get Jio SIM & 3-month free data offer for any 4G phone UBS said Airtel, Idea and Vodafone have all increased data quotas on prepaid internet packs. "Our back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest mega saver packs are 35-40 per cent further cheaper than the traditional plans. We expect strong data traffic to compensate for declining data realisations," it said. The entry of RJio, it said, will further accelerate data adoption with affordable 4G handsets and data tariffs. JP Morgan said: "As RJio commercial launch nears, we are seeing tariff cuts from the incumbents with free calling being bundled together with data for some select high value plans, while there are also data tariff cuts." Also Read: It's legit: Reliance Jio Preview scheme now open for all 4G-enabled smartphones From RJio's perspective, the key data point is the tariffs and how competition reacts to it. "If the plans are at a discount to current data tariff plans, then does the industry cut tariff to match RJio? Also what is the level of discount, if any, to current plans and how this would impact RJio's financial case would need to be seen. Voice tariffs though not much talked about are also important," it said. Goldman Sachs said Jio network is now available for free to most 4G smartphone users, with subscribers getting three months of unlimited data, voice and a suite of apps for free. "The response to this new entrant into India's telecom industry has been positive, with long queues in company stores. We expect Jio to garner 35 million subscribers over the next two years, with data volume growth for incumbents slowing to 50 per cent in FY17 from 70 per cent in FY16," it said. Initially launched for employees and later extended to family and friends, partners, and vendors, the Jio Preview offer has been gradually extended to other partner OEMs. Additionally, the Preview offer is also available with JioFi which is a Wi-Fi hotspot device recently launched by Reliance Digital. After Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Asus, Micromax and Yu, Gionee, Karbonn, Lava and Xolo Reliance Digital on Monday tied up with Sony, Videocon and Sansui to offer its Jio 4G Preview scheme on all their 4G-enabled smartphones. With PTI inputs Also Read: If you want free Jio 4G SIM, get in queue. Or pa

Airtel, Voda, Idea cut tariffs, bundle plans as Jio's commercial launch nears

INDIATODAY.IN

LAST UPDATED: SEP 01, 2016

NEW DELHI

 EMAIL AUTHOR

Telecom operators Airtel, Vodafone and Idea have cut tariff and bundled free calls with data to drive mass market adoption as the Jio threat looms. With the official launch of Jio nearing, its rivals have left no stone unturned to lure the customers.  

The industry has been trying various data pricing strategies, with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea trying innovative price structures.

Market leader Bharti Airtel yesterday announced two plans with data tariffs effectively lower by an eye-catching '80 per cent'.

But the Rs 51 per GB data versus industry norm of Rs 250-plus comes with the caveat of an upfront payment of Rs 1,498 for a year. This essentially translates into 30 per cent saving for someone using 1 GB per month data and 37 per cent for 2 GB a month users.

"In the past, 'high upfront charge, low recurring recharge' kind of plans have rarely found mass market appeal, more so when the benefit is spread out over a year. So we conclude that the addressable market for tariff cut plan appears quite small," Credit Suisse said.

Also Read: Guide: How to get Jio SIM & 3-month free data offer for any 4G phone

UBS said Airtel, Idea and Vodafone have all increased data quotas on prepaid internet packs. "Our back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest mega saver packs are 35-40 per cent further cheaper than the traditional plans. We expect strong data traffic to compensate for declining data realisations," it said.

The entry of RJio, it said, will further accelerate data adoption with affordable 4G handsets and data tariffs.

JP Morgan said: "As RJio commercial launch nears, we are seeing tariff cuts from the incumbents with free calling being bundled together with data for some select high value plans, while there are also data tariff cuts."

Also Read: It's legit: Reliance Jio Preview scheme now open for all 4G-enabled smartphones

From RJio's perspective, the key data point is the tariffs and how competition reacts to it. "If the plans are at a discount to current data tariff plans, then does the industry cut tariff to match RJio? Also what is the level of discount, if any, to current plans and how this would impact RJio's financial case would need to be seen. Voice tariffs though not much talked about are also important," it said.

Goldman Sachs said Jio network is now available for free to most 4G smartphone users, with subscribers getting three months of unlimited data, voice and a suite of apps for free.

"The response to this new entrant into India's telecom industry has been positive, with long queues in company stores. We expect Jio to garner 35 million subscribers over the next two years, with data volume growth for incumbents slowing to 50 per cent in FY17 from 70 per cent in FY16," it said. 
Initially launched for employees and later extended to family and friends, partners, and vendors, the Jio Preview offer has been gradually extended to other partner OEMs. Additionally, the Preview offer is also available with JioFi which is a Wi-Fi hotspot device recently launched by Reliance Digital.

After Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Asus, Micromax and Yu, Gionee, Karbonn, Lava and Xolo Reliance Digital on Monday tied up with Sony, Videocon and Sansui to offer its Jio 4G Preview scheme on all their 4G-enabled smartphones.

With PTI inputs 

Also Read: If you want free Jio 4G SIM, get in queue. Or pay

If you want free Jio 4G SIM, get in queue. Or pay

JAVED ANWER   |   @BRIJWAASI

LAST UPDATED: AUG 30, 2016

NEW DELHI

 EMAIL AUTHOR

Jio, the 4G service that Reliance Industries is preparing for an official launch, is one of the most exciting things to happen in the world of Indian telecom market in a long long time. Starved of data and reliable 3G or 4G services, people have great hopes from Jio. The fact that it is currently available for free for almost all 4G-enabled phones is making it a great crowd-puller. 

The rush is truly maddening. People queuing outside Reliance Digital stores and Reliance Digital Express Mini are real. And in places where there are no queues, that is because of some mechanism contrived by the store managers to keep the crowd out, a mechanism that may seem just or unfair, depending what it entails and how badly you want a SIM. 

A week-long wait for SIM card

In most Digital Express Mini stores in Delhi - the shops run by phone dealers in partnership with Reliance - the wait for the Jio SIM is now running into 7-10 days, even if there are no queues outside the store. "If you want a Jio SIM, you have to leave your name, number and phone's manufacturer. Please list them in this register," a Xpress Mini store manager in South Delhi IndiaToday.In on Saturday. "Once the people who are waiting ahead of you get it, we will give you a call and you will have to come to the store with KYC documents (address proof, photos etc) to get you SIM."

The store manager, on the condition anonymity, said that the rush is so great that Jio just doesn't have necessary infrastructure in place. "The whole process to get the SIM is quite tedious. It takes time. So we clear around 40-50 pending requests in a day. If you leave your number today, we will call you in around a week," he said. 

Also Read: It's legit: Reliance Jio Preview scheme now open for all 4G-enabled smartphones

Once a consumer gets the SIM, there is more delay. "We scan the documents and send to the Jio office immediately. Ideally, it is supposed to take an hour or two before the details are confirmed from the user using tele-verification. But as I said Jio doesn't have a mechanism to deal with the rush they are facing right now. The verification servers are often down. We are seeing verifications happening in at least four five day," he said. 
The great rush and consequent server issues were confirmed to IndiaToday.In by an official from Jio's sales team. This person, who looks after the relationships between Jio and its franchisee stores in Delhi NCR area, acknowledged that currently there was too much rush. But he said that the company was hoping to fix the issues soon. 

Forget free, pay some money

When the demand outstrips supply, for many there is often a way to make some extra money. With Jio's popularity the phone dealers too have sensed there chance. Although, it is not condoned by Jio, the same Xpress Mini store that won't give consumers the Jio SIM without making them wait for a week, is willing to give it all in case a consumers buys a phone from him. "Of course, you can get a Jio SIM today. Buy a phone from me. This way I take care of my consumers and not the whole Delhi that is rushing into my shop to claim a free SIM card," he said. 
Similarly, all major phone shops have the stock of Jio SIM cards but they are not only allowed to bundle them with handset they sell. For example if you buy a LG or Samsung phone, or a Lyf phone, you can get the Jio SIM from almost any shop. 

The sentiment among the phone dealers is that "free SIM" is a great thing for consumers. But it doesn't give dealers anything. They can only make money by making the Jio SIM a bargaining chip that can help them sell a phone or two. 

Jio and the partner companies like Samsung, LG and Asus too haven't helped the matters. The lack of clear communication from Jio on which phones are eligible for the service and the seemingly planned method of adding a company into the Jio mix everyday has muddled the message. This has allowed the phone dealers to reject or accept phones for Jio connection at their discretion as well as has emboldened them to misuse the whole process. 

Although, even if you get the Jio SIM card by buying a new phone - or JioFi, a Wi-Fi router that works with the SIM - you will have to follow the same activation and registration process that other consumers are following. This means whether you get a SIM "free" or after paying for a new phone, it may take at least 4 to 5 days before your SIM card is activated and you can use it. 

Also Read: Reliance Jio 4G Preview Guide: Getting your free SIM and early impressions

Airtel launches 4G with speed of up to 135mbps in Mumbai, gears up to tackle Jio

JAVED ANWER   |   @BRIJWAASI

LAST UPDATED: AUG 31, 2016

NEW DELHI

 EMAIL AUTHOR

Airtel on Wednesday said it would deploy new 4G technologies in Mumbai that will deliver speed of up to 135mbps to the existing Airtel 4G users. The launch of newer 4G technologies comes in the wake of impending rollout of Jio 4G from Reliance. Jio 4G is expected to be faster than the 4G services provided by telecom operators like Vodafone and the Airtel.

"Airtel launched its 4G services in Mumbai in May 2015 on the 2300 Mhz band using the TD LTE standard and recently added capacity on the 1800 Mhz band using FD LTE. With today's rollout, Mumbai is among the few cities globally to have high speed data services over 4G Advanced," said an Airtel spokesperson.

Airtel said that it would be able to deliver the high-speed 4G using carrier aggregation technology. "Under the carrier aggregation deployment, the capacities of TD LTE (2300 MHz spectrum band) and FD LTE (1800 MHz spectrum band) have been combined to enable better spectrum utilisation and efficiency. In February 2016, Airtel deployed India's first carrier aggregation in Kerala and the network achieved 4G data speeds of up to 135 Mbps on commercially available mobile devices," said the company spokesperson.

Also Read: Airtel, Voda, Idea cut tariffs, bundle plans as Jio's commercial launch nears

Although limited to Mumbai for now, the technology will be rolled out to other areas soon. "We will extend the deployment of 4G Advanced in other geographies in the coming months," said Ajai Puri, director - Operations (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel.

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Airtel said the deployment is a part of Airtel's ongoing network transformation programme called Project Leap, under which Airtel plans to invest Rs 60,000 crores over the next three years.

For the company, the Project Leap comes at a very significant time, at a time when it is facing a very aggressive challenger in the form of Jio, a service that Reliance Industries Limited is hoping to roll out very soon. Although, Airtel continues to be the number one telecom company in India, in the last few years it has been slow to respond to the concerns of consumers even as more and more Airtel users have complained of poor 4G and 3G connectivity and call drops.

The prices of data have also remained high with all major telecom operators including Airtel, Vodafone and Idea offering similar rates. However, with Jio testing its network using a preview offer --  it now has at least couple of million users -- the existing telecom operators have moved to prepare response. In the last several weeks almost all telecom operators have reduced the data prices and have come out with bundles that are more wholesome and affordability, although the reliability of the service and the speed has remained a concern. 

Also Read: If you want free Jio 4G SIM, get in queue. Or pay