WhatsApp to finally allow users to mute group conversation

It's a common bug-bear for millions of users but WhatsApp will soon allow people to properly mute annoying group chats - and keep them silent.

The messenger's

forthcoming update will include a new 'Vacation Mode', which will let people archive communal conversations long-term.

Users can currently do this on a short-term basis but the conversations become re-activated as soon as a contributor sends a new message.

The latest version will avoid this, keeping message alerts from view.

This means people won't be forced to choose between enduring constant chatter or leaving a group entirely.

And, conveniently, the action is reversible. This means users can manually reactivate chats at will.

The new feature was identified by

WABetaInfo, who found it within

a 'beta test' version of the popular app.

They don't report a date for its availability, but insist that it will be operative 'soon'.

Specifically, they add that it will be located in Settings > Notifications part of the app.

And that's not all - in addition to Vacation Mode, the new update will also feature a Linked Accounts option, which will allow users to tie their accounts to third-party platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram.

The theory is that it would allow people to share Status/Story updates between the three apps.

The news comes shortly after it was revealed that

Facebook bosses plan to flood the instant-messaging app with adverts.

The Android and iOS chat app, which was originally released in 2009, will start to embed paid-for content in the app's Status feature from 2019.

It comes five years after Mark Zuckerberg's company bought the platform from co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton for a whopping £22billion ($17 bn).

Both Koum and Acton later quit Facebook, citing differences with the social media company.

Insiders believe they were unhappy that their beloved product - which was originally marketed as advert-free and end-to-end encrypted - would soon host commercial content at the expense of users' privacy.

Specifically, although the latter will remain unchanged, the men were unhappy that Facebook wanted to share data across platforms in order to customise the adverts.