WhatsApp confirms a 'highly requested' feature is coming to its chat app in latest free update

whatsapp logo pictured on a smartphone screen held in someone's hand

WhatsApp is making it easier to find the right conversation or group chat with the introduction of three filters in its chat app on iPhone, Android, Mac and PC

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Aaron Brown

By Aaron Brown


Published: 17/04/2024

- 16:36

New addition should making finding the right chat "quick, seamless, and simple"

  • WhatsApp is adding three new filters to its chat app
  • You can sort items based on Unread, Groups, or All
  • Parent company Meta says it's a "highly requested" feature
  • Latest update is rolling out to WhatsApp users now

WhatsApp is making it easier to find the right conversation with three filters that can quickly sort the list of chats within the app. Picking between All, Unread, and Groups will sort through your conversations and only show those that match the criteria of the filter.

Parent company Meta, which also owns Facebook and Instagram, confirmed the new addition in a blog post on its website.

Describing the thinking behind the new chat filters, the company writes in the post: "Opening WhatsApp and finding the right conversation should feel quick, seamless, and simple. As people increasingly do more on WhatsApp, it’s more important than ever before to be able to get to your messages fast."

colourful illustration showing the three chat filters all unread and groups selected at the top of a whatsapp chat window

With a single tap, WhatsApp users will be able to sort the list of ongoing conversations based on whether it contains an unread message, or whether it's included in a group discussion

META PRESS OFFICE

Breaking down the purpose of each WhatsApp filter, the US company adds:

  • All — The default view with all your messages visible, exactly the same as you're used to
  • Unread — Designed for when you want to quickly look through the conversations you need to catch up on or respond to. It shows messages that are either manually marked as unread or haven’t been opened yet
  • Groups — Bringing all of your group chats together in one place, this filter is designed to make it easy to find groups that you've been added to, whether that's a one-off event, like a Hen Do, or an ongoing family chat. Meta says this option was "highly requested" by WhatsApp users. This filter will also show subgroups of any Communities stored in WhatsApp

WhatsApp is the most popular messaging service on the planet, with roughly 2 billion active users, outranking WeChat with its 1.3 billion users, and Facebook Messenger at 930 million.

Capitalising on that immense popularity, Meta has steadily added a stream of new features to the app on iPhone, Android, Mac, and PC.

Businesses can use WhatsApp for customer support, so there's no need to download a new app or use a dedicated live chat window that might be unfamiliar. Meta has also added WhatsApp Communities, which bring together multiple group conversations under a single umbrella. You can use a WhatsApp Community to bring together different discussions between friends, family, and colleagues.

These features are incredibly popular ...but have made searching through the list of ongoing chats a bit of a daunting task, something that Meta clearly recognises and wants to address with its incoming filters.

"We believe filters will make it easier to stay organized, find your most important conversations and navigate through messages more efficiently. We’ll continue to build more options to help you focus on what matters most," the company summarises in the blog post on the new addition.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Chat filters are starting to roll out globally today, but it could take some time before the feature lands on your phone. WhatsApp anticipates that everyone will have the new features in the next few weeks.

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