In a perfect world, you wouldn't have to worry about that one family group accidentally unmuting itself after a year. But what if we tell you that this feature is no longer a distant dream? A tweet rolled out by WhatsApp early on Friday notified users about the new feature that is now available on its update.

Available on the web, Android and iOS version, the new update allows users to choose between '8 hours', 'One Week' and 'Always' -- replacing the option of 'One Year' which was available for users until today. According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp was reportedly testing the mute forever option along with a few more tweaks, for a while.

If you're still wondering how to mute your chats forever, here's how you can go about:

• Open WhatsApp, and the group you wish to mute

• Click on the mute chat option

• Choose 'Always' from the options mentioned in the drop-down list

As numerous continue to express their happiness online, there are several who have also requested for a 'vacation mode' on WhatsApp, where unopened or unused in your list are automatically archived after a few months. In fact, the 'vacation mode' also ensures that these chats remain archived even after receiving a message on it.

And while there are no such reports about the same being available in the next update, WABetaInfo has dropped a hint stating that users may get such a feature -- perhaps in the near future! The company, for now, is continuing to test the beta version of the same for Android 2.20.199.8.