WhatsApp has rolled out a new feature which will make life easier for new members who get added to a group chat…
Picture this, you made a WhatsApp group in preparation for Aditi’s wedding. You added all the friends into the group, Nikhil, Priyanka, Laveena, Sharad… everyone. The group has been active ever since it was made, travel plans, stay options, what everyone’s wearing, the dance videos to prep for the sangeeth… This goes on for a week and then Rahul confirms that he can make it to the wedding too. So, he gets added to the group. Now the problem…
Who’s going to share all the details with him all over again? Because when he gets added to the WhatsApp group, he’s going to encounter a blank screen, with absolutely no history. So, someone is going to have to share all the information, photos, videos etc with him all over again…
WhatsApp’s New Feature to the Rescue!
The Meta-owned company has finally solved this aforementioned issue with a new feature called Group Message History.
As mentioned, new members added to any kind of group – workplace channels, community groups, extended family threads – had no way of knowing what has been already discussed on the group before they got included.
This meant the former members had to manually share everything with them, typing it out again or sending screenshots, to fill in the new members with all the updates. This involved a lot of additional time and repetition.
But the new Group Message History feature puts an end to all that.
How Group Message History works
WhatsApp Group Message History is not automatically shown to new members when they get added to the group. It has to be shared by existing members.
- When someone is added to the group, the existing members are prompted to share recent messages.
- Existing members can then choose to send a portion of the messages to the new users. This is usually between 25 to 100 messages.
- The messages retain their timestamp and sender information, so that the news users know when they were originally shared and by whom.
Importantly, despite this option to share older messages, WhatsApp maintains its end-to-end encryption which means that all the information is secure and the content is only visible to group members.
How to Maintain Privacy despite this Feature
Admins have a lot of say on who can share message history. In case new members don’t need to be shown earlier messages, admins can disable history sharing entirely. They can also restrict it to certain members within the group.
WhatsApp also notifies group members when history is shared so that it maintains transparency within the group and everyone is aware of what information has been shared with new members.
The Last Word
The feature is live for iOS as well as Android but it may not be available for all users yet. Meta is still in the process of rolling out this crucial feature to all users across the world. Once available, it will become a crucial part of every group chat.
By introducing this feature, WhatsApp has solved a long-standing issue. There will be no need for screenshot sharing anymore.
What other new features would you like to see in WhatsApp? Let us know in the comments section.
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