In the sea of instant messengers, there’s probably one name that stands out. WhatsApp instant messenger is by far the most popular app in the Play Store. Since the Facebook acquisition, this multiplatform service has had various improvements while the core stayed the same. One of the additions was the Quick Reply option which allows users to receive the full content of a message in the background. Apps like WhatsApp have a Quick Reply option that you can enable or disable as you see fit.
That way, you can reply in seconds and move on with whatever you were doing. However, when it comes to privacy, this feature isn’t exactly the most prying-eyes-proof addition.
Everyone can see or even interact with the messages without unlocking the device. Since Android Lolipop, users have had a hard time configuring the notifications to allow the sound (even see the sender’s name) but hide the content.
All things considered, Android Oreo made a breakthrough by allowing all messaging apps to provide you with Quick Reply. This native feature completely negates any value of the native Quick Reply in WhatsApp. In addition, it limits third-party apps from meddling with the lock screen. You can tweak it in the Notification settings menu and disable WhatsApp Quick reply there.
How to stop Auto reply on WhatsApp
That’s probably why the Quick Reply pop-up, which is solely a part of WhatsApp, is now disabled by default. But, if you have enabled it for some reason and want it disabled, follow these steps to do it:
- Open WhatsApp.
- Tap on the 3-dot menu and open Settings.
- Choose Notifications.
- Under the Popup, notification selects “No popup”. Do the same for Group notifications.
If you, on the other hand, want to apply a more strict approach, open Settings > Apps & notifications > All apps. Select WhatsApp from the list. Once there, available App notifications. After that, follow these steps to restrict popups on the Lockscreen.
- Under Chats, tap on Group notifications. Watch out not to toggle it off.
- Scroll down and, under the Advanced section, expand On the lock screen.
- Now, here choose to hide sensitive notifications content.
- Get back and do the same for Message notifications.
After that, you can be sure that no WhatsApp popups will appear and thus you’ll disable WhatsApp Quick Reply. If you have anything else to add or take, please do so in the comments section below.
Editor’s note: This article was initially published in September 2018. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.
