Never miss what matters in your group chats

A busy group chat means plans are being made, news is being shared and the jokes are in full swing. But it can also mean a lot of messages to catch up on when you've been busy. Today we're introducing four updates that make it easier to pick up where you left off.

Pin messages for longer: You now have the option to keep important messages pinned forever, if you don't want to choose a time limit up front.

Send message history after someone joins a group: Earlier this year we made it possible to bring new members up to speed by sending them message history. You choose whether to send recent messages when you add them to a group by toggling on or off. Now you can also send someone recent messages retroactively after they've joined a group just by tapping their name in the chat. Those messages stay end-to-end encrypted like all your personal chats.

Share a group status with your group members: Share the right moments with the right people – because what goes in the running club chat might not belong in the family chat. Group status makes it simple to share casual updates with specific groups. Everyone in the group can view, react, and add their own status, and just like regular statuses, they disappear after 24 hours.

Filter by mentions and replies: A new chat filter that shows every unread group conversation where you were either mentioned or received a direct reply, including @all messages, so you can quickly catch up on the chats most relevant to you.

Did you know? There's more you can do in your group chats than you might realise:

• Reply privately to one person in a group, so a side chat doesn't derail the entire conversation
• For when you need a definitive answer, try turning off 'allow multiple answers' when making a poll
• New to a big group? Member tags let you add a bit of context about who you are - so you can be "Sam's Dad" in the parents group and "Treasurer" in the volunteer group

We think WhatsApp is the best place for group chats, and we'll keep making it better.