WhatsApp has started rolling out four updates aimed at busy group chats. Messages can now stay pinned with no expiry, someone who has just joined can be sent the recent conversation afterwards, groups get their own status updates, and a new chat filter shows only the groups where you were mentioned or replied to.
The changes cover Android and iOS, and they arrive gradually, so some accounts will see them before others.
Pins that do not expire
Until now a pinned message had to be given a time limit when you pinned it. WhatsApp’s announcement says you can now pick “forever” instead of choosing a duration up front, which suits things like an address, a schedule or group rules.
Catching up after joining
WhatsApp added the option earlier this year to send recent messages to a new member while adding them. If you forgot, or the new member asks later, tapping their name inside the chat now lets you send the recent conversation then. The messages stay end-to-end encrypted, WhatsApp says.
Group status and the mentions filter
Group status lets you post a status that only one group sees, rather than all your contacts. Everyone in the group can react or post one of their own, and each one expires after a day, as ordinary statuses do. WABetaInfo, which tracks the app’s betas, had spotted both this and the filter in test builds before the launch.
The filter sits in the chat-list row beside options such as Groups. Open it and you get the unread groups that mention you or reply to you directly, including @all announcements. The row is optional and can be moved out of the main list if you do not want it.
WhatsApp has not listed a country-by-country schedule, only that the updates are rolling out now, so update the app from the Play Store or App Store and check again over the next few weeks.
