WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps across the world. It allows users to send messages, photos, videos, documents and even make voice and video calls for free. While WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption for messages, many users still prefer to keep their message content private. If you use an iPhone and don’t want message content to appear in notifications, WhatsApp provides an easy way to disable this feature.
In this article, we will show you how to stop WhatsApp from displaying message content in notifications on iPhone. Whether you want to hide potentially sensitive information or stop others from sneak peeking at your messages, this guide has got you covered. So let’s get started!
Why Hide WhatsApp Message Content?
Here are some common reasons why iPhone users would want to hide message content from WhatsApp notifications:
- Privacy – You may not want others around you catching a glimpse of your private messages.
- Security – Hiding sensitive information like account numbers, passwords etc from notifications keeps it more secure.
- Professionalism – Keeping chat notifications generic looks more professional especially in work settings.
- Focus – Prevents getting distracted by chat notifications and helps you stay focused when required.
- Cleanliness – Makes your lock screen look tidy instead of overridden with message snippets.
Whatever your reason, hiding WhatsApp message content in notifications is easy on iPhone.
How Notification Previews Work in iOS
Before we go into the steps, it’s important to understand how notification previews work on iPhone.
By default, iOS shows a snippet of the message content in notifications across all apps. This allows users to quickly glance at notifications and get an idea of what the message is about without opening the app.
The amount of message content shown depends on the length of the message. For short messages, iOS displays the entire text while for longer messages it shows the first few lines followed by “…”.
For WhatsApp in particular, notification previews can display the sender’s name, profile picture, message text, attachments like photos, videos, documents etc.
The way this content appears in notifications is controlled by iOS and notification settings within WhatsApp. Next, we’ll see how to use these settings to disable message previews.
How to Hide WhatsApp Message Content from Notifications on iPhone
Hiding WhatsApp message content on iPhone can be done in two ways:
- Globally for all apps using iOS settings
- For WhatsApp only using in-app settings
Let’s go through both methods:
1. Hide Previews Using iOS Settings
The first way to hide WhatsApp message content from notifications is to turn off the Show Previews feature in iOS for all apps:
- Open Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap on Notifications.
- Tap on Show Previews.
- Select ‘When Unlocked’ or ‘Never’ option.
- ‘When Unlocked’ – Message content will be hidden when phone is locked but visible on unlocked screen.
- ‘Never’ – Message content will be hidden on both locked and unlocked screen.
This will remove all message preview content from notifications system-wide. All apps including WhatsApp will only show sender name/app name in notifications. No message content will be displayed.
While this achieves the goal of hiding WhatsApp message previews, it also affects all other apps equally. If you only want to target WhatsApp, use the next method.
2. Use WhatsApp Notification Settings
To selectively hide WhatsApp message previews on iPhone:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
- Tap on Notifications.
- Toggle off ‘Show Preview’ option.
This will stop only WhatsApp notifications from displaying message content while keeping previews for other apps intact. Much more targeted approach.
And that’s it! With two simple toggles, you can hidden incoming WhatsApp message content from notifications on iPhone.
Customizing Notification Content on WhatsApp
In addition to completely hiding message previews, WhatsApp also gives users some customization options for notification content:
- Name Only – Shows only sender name in notifications. Most generic option.
- No Name – Displays ‘WhatsApp’ instead of contact name in notifications.
- Picture Only – Only sender’s profile picture will be visible. Message text is hidden.
These options are available when you open WhatsApp Settings > Notifications > Show Preview.
So based on your specific requirements, you can choose to show name only, no name, or just the profile picture in WhatsApp notifications on your iPhone.
Important Things to Note
Here are some additional pointers to keep in mind when hiding message previews for WhatsApp on iPhone:
- Disabling message previews does NOT affect messages visible within WhatsApp. It only hides content in notifications outside the app.
- Any notifications received while previews are disabled will be affected. Old notifications already received with message content will remain unchanged.
- Hiding previews applies to notifications on your lock screen, home screen, banners, notification center etc. But incoming call screens will still show message preview.
- Media attachments like photos and videos also remain hidden when previews are off.
- If you disable previews using iOS settings, make sure to toggle it back on when required for other apps.
Following these tips will help you manage hidden WhatsApp notifications on your iPhone properly.
Troubleshooting Problems
While hiding WhatsApp message previews is straightforward, you may face some issues like:
- Previews still visible – Check if you toggled off the right settings in WhatsApp and iOS as explained above.
- Previews hide on lock screen but not home screen – Try changing the ‘Show Previews’ setting under iOS Notifications to ‘Never’ instead of ‘When Unlocked’.
- Old notifications still show previews – Unfortunately these cannot be hidden retroactively. Only new notifications will be affected.
If the problem persists even after checking settings, try force restarting your iPhone, update WhatsApp to latest version, or contact WhatsApp support for help.
Conclusion
Hiding sensitive and private WhatsApp message content from notifications is a must for many iPhone users these days. Thankfully, WhatsApp makes it easy to disable message previews completely or customize notification content as needed for privacy.
Using either WhatsApp notification settings or iOS global preview settings, you can stop incoming messages from popping up on your lock screen and notification center. Just be careful not to accidentally disable previews for other important apps.
Implementing these steps takes just a few taps but goes a long way in keeping your WhatsApp messages secure. So update your iPhone’s notification settings and stop worrying about others sneak peeking at your chats!