This change is being beta-tested on iOS, but could come to Android too
Recently, WhatsApp has been spotted developing new features for its arsenal, mainly focusing on group chats. The service recently upped the member limit in group chats from 100 to 512 and announced Communities, an all-new way to message like-minded people. With such large groups, administrators and members would like to keep a tab on members who recently left the conversation. WhatsApp is beta-testing a feature, so you aren’t asking around or left guessing.
WhatsApp beta version 22.16.0.75 on iPhone allows group members and admins to see who quit the group or was removed from it in the last 60 days (via WABetaInfo). Under the list of current participants in the ‘Group info’ tab, a new option called ‘See Past Participants’ is now visible. The list of removed members also gets a dedicated search bar, which could be handy for large threads where there is usually a constant exodus of members and an influx of new ones. Small businesses which use WhatsApp groups for internal communication or interacting with clients might also appreciate the feature.
Additionally, the present system of notifying the chat when a member leaves or gets booted is being removed. Besides admins, nobody will get in-chat messages for such events — perhaps to make moderation easier. So, the names of members who have left the group will only be recorded in the ‘Past Participants’ list.
The feature is making its way to WhatsApp TestFlight beta members on iOS right now, but given the app’s cross-platform nature, we believe it should come to the Android and desktop apps sooner than later. On Android, WhatsApp was recently seen testing a way to help administrators moderate content on groups by deleting messages. We hope that feature comes too, so chats become a little more manageable.
