WhatsApp has started rolling out four new features aimed at making group chats less chaotic and easier to manage. The company announced the changes in an official blog post published last week, saying the goal is to reduce clutter and give users more control over group communication.
Messages can now be pinned permanently
Until now, pinned messages in WhatsApp groups would drop off after a set period. With the new update, users can pin important messages indefinitely. That means things like event announcements, IBAN payment details or address directions can stay at the top of the screen for good.
Sharing chat history with new members just got easier
Message history sharing, introduced earlier this year, could previously only be toggled at the moment you added someone to a group. The update expands this: by tapping a member's name, you can now send them the most recent messages even after they have joined. WhatsApp noted that shared history is protected with end-to-end encryption, just like in individual chats.
Status updates for selected groups only
The third change concerns who sees your status updates. Users can now share a status only with specific groups they choose. The feature is designed for scenarios where, say, a photo shared to your running club group has no relevance for your family group. Everyone in a selected group can view the status, add their own and react to it. As with regular statuses, these updates are automatically deleted after 24 hours.
A filter for messages that actually concern you
The final feature targets the problem of getting lost in a flood of notifications. A new chat filter collects unread group messages in which you were mentioned or directly replied to into a single list. Bulk calls made with "@everyone" tags are included in the filter as well. That way, even across dozens of chats, you can quickly see only the conversations that directly involve you.
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