WhatsApp Finally Launches Long-Awaited Feature: Catching Up With Competitors!

Long-awaited by many, WhatsApp is finally set to introduce a feature allowing users to log out from their main device, eliminating the need to mute the app or uninstall it.

Currently, WhatsApp does not offer a straightforward way for users to temporarily stop using the app. The available options range from disabling notifications, which is less than ideal, to completely uninstalling the app, which requires reinstallation later on. Another drastic measure is to delete one’s account, but this results in the loss of all data.

As of now, users can only log out of WhatsApp on secondary devices, not on their primary smartphone. Developers are expected to address this by adding a logout option to the service, a fundamental feature that’s already available on most similar platforms but is currently missing from the app.

WhatsApp Finally Introduces a Logout Option

While exploring the code of the latest WhatsApp beta version (2.25.17.37), Android Authority found references to a logout function and managed to activate it. You can see it in action in the screenshots below. This option is located in the app’s Settings under the Account section and appears at the very bottom, just below the option to delete the account.

Upon clicking the logout button, WhatsApp offers two choices: either to delete all data and preferences or to keep them. The former is similar to account deletion but keeps you in your groups, which deleting an account does not. The latter acts as a way to take a break; simply log back in to resume activity as if nothing changed. This seems to be a more fitting solution than fiddling with notification settings to find some peace.

This logout feature is currently being tested internally and could soon be rolled out in a public beta version, with availability for all users expected to follow later.