New WhatsApp group members could soon view past chats
What's the story
WhatsApp is working on a new feature that would allow new members to catch up on group conversations. The capability, dubbed recent history sharing, is still in development and not yet available for beta testing. It aims to provide a seamless onboarding experience for newcomers by automatically sharing recent messages when they join a group chat.
Feature mechanics
How does recent history sharing work?
The recent history sharing facility works by letting existing group members automatically share a short window of chat history when a new user joins. This is done only if the admin has enabled the setting. All messages are end-to-end encrypted, meaning they can only be read by those for whom they are intended.
Feature control
Admin control and encryption security
Admins will have the option to manage recent history sharing from the group permissions screen. The process is automatic and works in the background, ensuring that ongoing conversations aren't interrupted. WhatsApp has also made sure that only messages from a defined recent period (currently 24 hours) are shared, which could be adjusted in future versions.
Data efficiency
WhatsApp's approach to data management
In highly active groups where hundreds of texts are exchanged daily, sharing all the messages from the last 24 hours could consume a lot of data. To tackle this, WhatsApp is considering limiting the recent history sharing to a maximum of 1,000 messages from the past day. This way, the app can provide relevant context without overloading devices or networks with too much information at once.
Integration
Compatibility with group invite links
The recent history sharing option will also work when someone joins a group later via an invite link. This way, all newcomers get the same ability to read recent messages, no matter how or when they join.