This privacy setting was previously available to WhatsApp Enterprises, and the company is now reportedly working on bringing it to consumers.
Currently, users can be added to groups without their permission – but the new feature will allow users to change this in their privacy settings.
From the Settings menu, users can select the Groups option to change whether they can automatically be added to groups.
Users can choose between everyone, only their contacts, or nobody being able add them to groups without permission.
If the admin of a group is unable to automatically add a WhatsApp user to a group, that user will receive an invitation to join the group which expires after 72 hours.
The feature will be available in the next iOS update for users who joined the TestFlight beta programme.