WhatsApp New Feature Update: Group Message History Lets Admin Share Past Chats With New Members, Check It Out

Meta has started rolling out a new feature to its instant messenger, WhatsApp, called the group message history, and this new feature aims to reduce interruptions in group conversations. This new feature makes it easier for newly joined members in the group to get a hold of previous chats they were not a part of, in this the group admin will get the option share past chats with newly added members. This will effectively eliminate the need for sharing previous screenshots or getting a hold of previous messages and forwarding them individually. WhatsApp has promised that this system still remains end-to-end encrypted, this means it will utilise the same privacy system as individual chats.

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How Does It Work

WhatsApp is changing how group chats work with a new update called Group Message History. Earlier, when someone joined a group, they could only see messages sent after they were added, which often left them out of the loop. Now, new members will be able to scroll through recent conversations that happened before they joined, making it easier to understand the context right away.

The rollout isn’t one-size-fits-all. WhatsApp is giving group admins the power to decide whether past chats should be visible to newcomers. They can also control how much history is shared, starting from just 25 previous messages. This means the setting can be adjusted depending on whether the group is for work, a community, or close friends.

On the privacy front, WhatsApp says nothing changes. The feature continues to operate under end-to-end encryption, so only members of the group can access the shared messages. The company maintains that its encryption standards remain intact, and visibility stays confined within the group.

WhatsApp has said that group members will be notified accordingly with timestamps and sender information whenever a message history is shared with any newly added member of the group, this is to maintain privacy and transparency, additionally this new history feature will be visually different from regular messages.

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The new feature is going through a gradual roll out right now and will be available on iOS and Android globally as time passes by, hence users are advised to update their WhatsApp messengers to the latest version to get a hold of this feature.