With an aim to improve the user's experience, WhatsApp on Tuesday announced the global availability of major updates that will change – how a user interacts with WhatsApp groups and manages the conversation. As per the new updates, now, the company has added Group description, Admin controls, Group catch up and Participant search features to revamp Groups. This is also likely to help company's fight with Telegram, a competitor that has been getting decent traction in recent past for Group chats.
All these features were tested over the last few months and now it is available for both Android and iOS platform. In a statement, WhatsApp said “Groups have been an important part of the WhatsApp experience, whether it's family members connecting across the globe or childhood friends staying in touch over the years. There are also people coming together in groups on WhatsApp like new parents looking for support, students organizing study sessions, and even city leaders coordinating relief efforts after natural disasters. Today, we're sharing improvements that we've made to groups.”
Following are the key features that have been added to revamp WhatsApp Group chat.
Group description: A short blurb found under group info that will allow the user to set the purpose, guidelines, or topics for the group. When a new person joins a group, the description will show up at the top of the chat.
Admin controls: In group settings, there is now a control that allows admins to restrict who can change the group's subject, icon, and description.
Group catch up: When you have been away from a group chat, quickly catch up on messages that mention or reply to you by tapping on a new @ button that appears at the bottom right corner of the chat.
Participant search: Find anyone in a group by searching for participants on the group info page.
Remove admin permissions: Admins can now remove admin permissions of other group participants, and group creators can no longer be removed from the group they started.
Protection: What has also introduced protection so users cannot be repeatedly added to groups they have left. These features are available for both Android and iPhone users.
