WhatsApp is adding one of its "most requested features" with its next free update. Dubbed Group Message History, for the first time, you'll be able to share the complete history of messages from a Group Chat with new users.
Until now, whenever you added someone to an existing Group Chat, they were only able to see text messages, voice notes, photos and videos, documents, and anything else that was sent after they joined. This meant that Group Chats used to organise birthdays, Stag and Hen dos, or weekends away would see the same introductory message sent time and time again as new people are added.
This was time-consuming... and a little annoying for the first batch of people added to the Group Chat.
With Group Message History, you'll be able to share recent messages with new members, so they can catch up on everything that's happened before they were added to the chat. The new feature remains end-to-end encrypted like all messages sent via WhatsApp.
Parent company Meta, which also owns and operates Instagram and Facebook, describes the much-requested functionality as offering "a quicker, more private way to keep conversations flowing, with no more screenshots, and no more unnecessary message forwarding".
Only those with admin privileges in a Group Chat will be able to share between 25–100 recent messages to those added to a Group Chat
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When the free update with Group Message History arrives on your device, you'll see a new pop-up whenever you add someone to a Group Chat. You'll be given the option to share recent messages to them – from 25 up to 100 maximum. Yes, that does mean that if you're adding someone to a years-old Group Chat, there's no way for them to catch-up on everything that has been sent.
Meta says it made this decision as it "keeps things simple".
"New members only need to read the most relevant, recent context, and the whole group can easily see the messages that have been shared," it explains in a blog post about the new arrival.
For transparency, whenever 25–100x messages from the Group Chat history is shared with a new member, everyone in the Group Chat will be notified, so there will be no surprises. WhatsApp will include timestamps and sender information. For the new additions, message history is visually distinct from regular messages, so that it's obvious if you're catching up with a weeks-old in-joke or the latest message in the Group Chat.
Group Message History is never shared automatically. It's something that you'll need to actively trigger for each new member of a Group Chat.
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Admins have the option to disable the setting for the Group Chat, but anyone with admin-level privileges will always be able to share message history.
Meta describes the new arrival as "one of our most requested features" and "another example of how WhatsApp is leading the way in group messaging, no matter your device." It adds: "We’ve started rolling out Group Message History gradually, and look forward to continuing to set the standard for private, group chat experiences on WhatsApp."
The announcement of Group Message History follows a hectic few weeks for WhatsApp. The world's most popular messaging service, with over 3 billion users globally, has already started to roll-out an "extreme safeguard" to lock down your messages.
Known as Strict Account Settings, this optional, lockdown-style security feature is designed to batten down the hatches to reduce your vulnerability to cyber attack.
To do this, it limits some of the functionality built into the chat app to protect high-profile users, like politicians or celebrities, who believe they're under threat from a sophisticated hack. For everyone else, the end-to-end encryption will be enough to keep messages from prying eyes.
Earlier this year, WhatsApp introduced so-called "member tags" to help identify yourself in Group Chats, as well as special text stickers, and event reminders so you'll never forget about upcoming plans organised in a chat.
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