WhatsApp has announced a major addition to group chats that helps bring new participants up to speed without disrupting the active conversation. The feature, called Group Message History, lets group admins and members send recent messages directly to new members.
According to the official blog, WhatsApp states that this feature allows new participants to view recent messages sent before they joined the group. Previously, new group members could only see messages sent after they had joined the conversation, which sometimes caused confusion or required other members to explain the context manually.
The company states that when you or a group admin adds someone to a group, you will receive a prompt asking whether you would like to share recent messages with them. You can choose to send between 25 and 100 messages. This, again, helps newcomers get up to speed while keeping the shared messages visible to the whole group. Moreover, WhatsApp promises that these messages will still adhere to the platform’s end-to-end encryption policies.
Additionally, in the name of transparency, WhatsApp says that when someone sends message history, it notifies everyone in the group, providing clear timestamps and sender information. The company also emphasised that the message history will appear visually distinct from regular messages.
Lastly, the social media platform states that admins have the option to disable the setting for their groups. However, the company mentions that Admins will always be able to share message history.
WhatsApp says that the Group Message History feature is rolling out gradually, so it may not be available to everyone immediately. Users should update the app to ensure they can access the feature as soon as it becomes available.
(Source: WhatsApp Blog)
