WhatsApp plans big update that could make group chats easier to read

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the UK but we probably all have those group chats that often become a little chaotic as people chime in and reply to the same message. This is handy for organisation (and banter, obviously) but it can be difficult to follow the conversation when there are so many replies.

That could be about to change as WABetaInfo, a website dedicated to reporting potential updates to WhatsApp, has spotted a new feature in the beta version of WhatsApp for Android that addresses this longstanding problem.

The report shows a new feature called ‘threaded message replies’ that purports to do exactly what it says on the tin: give you the option to view all replies to a certain message in a separate thread. You can reply to a message on WhatsApp for Android or iPhone by swiping a message to the left or pressing and holding it and selecting reply. This then displays your response to the chat in a block with the original message above, which anyone can then tap on to go back and read that original message.

You can reply to messages in one-on-one chats, not just group chats, but this new threaded reply feature would surely be a godsend for large group chats. If many people are replying to the same original message, tapping through to view the replies to one message is said to display all messages in one handy screen, as per the below screenshot:

“This feature is expected to be released in a future update for individual conversations, group chats, communities, and channels,” WABetaInfo reports.

“This new feature will group all related replies directly under the original message, making it significantly easier to track ongoing conversations and discussions without the confusion of disjointed replies scattered throughout the chat.”

So as long as everyone is replying in the app to the same message, you’ll be able to go back and view all the replies on one screen rather than having to endlessly scroll in the chat. This is handy as often people reply at different times to messages, and other messages may be sent in between, making the thread hard to follow.

Better still, the thread cleverly included replies to quoted messages from the original message. So, someone might reply to a message and then someone might reply to the second message rather than the original. WhatsApp is programmed to link these all together, and display all related quoted replies in one place.

This seems like a great update to keep track of messages that are related to the same topic. We reckon this could prove useful in big group chats or in community groups where scores of people could be talking about the same topic in replies, where conversations are hard to track.

This is currently in the Android beta for WhatsApp. A beta is a piece of software that is under testing and not yet the full public release, though usually when new features are spotted in beta they make their way to the regular version of WhatsApp eventually. Hopefully this one doesn’t take too long to come to all our phones.