There’s an unspoken rule about giving people some context before adding them to a WhatsApp group, especially if it’s a large group with active members. Previously, you had to complete this task manually by acting like a chatbot and summarizing everything in your own words or sharing screenshots. However, an upcoming WhatsApp update could help you with this.
The Meta-owned messaging platform is testing a new feature called “Group Chat History Sharing” (via a WABetaInfo report). As the name suggests, the feature allows a WhatsApp user (probably the admin) to share chat history (up to 100 messages sent within 14 days) with someone while adding them to a group.
This is how chat history sharing works in WhatsApp
Once users select a contact name, the option to share chat history appears at the bottom of the screen as a dialog box with options to send the last 25, 50, 75, or 100 messages. When the new participant opens the group conversation, they will see the messages (with appropriate timestamps) in the chat.
Instead of joining the group without any context, the new participant gets an idea of the topic being discussed and the flow of the conversations, which can be crucial, especially in professional WhatsApp groups. Basically, the feature allows new group members to stay updated much more efficiently and effectively.
Previously, the “Group Chat History” feature was available in the beta version of the app for WhatsApp. Now it is also accessible to users testing the latest WhatsApp beta update for iOS (available in the TestFlight app). It’s worth mentioning that the feature is not enabled by default. The platform does not automatically send group chat history to new members.
Beta testers can share group chat history with users who don’t have access to the feature, meaning the background infrastructure supporting the feature is already in place. It’s only a matter of time before WhatsApp releases it to the general public via a stable update on both Android and iOS.
