WhatsApp Tests Selective Chat History Sharing for New Group Members

WhatsApp is addressing a longstanding gap in its group messaging functionality with a new beta feature enabling selective sharing of recent chat history when adding new members. Currently available to a limited group of iOS testers via TestFlight, this functionality allows existing group participants to share up to 100 recent messages from the previous 14 days with incoming members.

The implementation maintains WhatsApp's security standards while adding practical utility. When adding a new participant, users now see an option to share recent messages immediately below the contact selection interface. The sharer can select any quantity of messages up to the 100-message limit, providing flexibility depending on context and privacy considerations. Crucially, the shared messages remain protected by WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption throughout the transfer process, using the encryption keys from the initiating user's device.

WhatsApp includes transparency safeguards to notify all group members when history is shared. Messages delivered to new participants appear in a distinct color within the chat timeline, and the app generates a system notification identifying both the sharer and recipient. This prevents undisclosed sharing of conversation history while helping newcomers identify which messages were shared retroactively.

The feature addresses a common workflow pain point in professional, community, and family group chats where new members previously joined conversations mid-stream without context. Unlike platforms like Telegram that automatically share full history, WhatsApp's manual approach offers greater control over what information new participants access. This positions WhatsApp closer to enterprise collaboration tools while maintaining its consumer-friendly design.

As a cross-platform service used by over 2 billion people, WhatsApp's implementation avoids OS version fragmentation. The same functionality is simultaneously being tested in Android beta channels, suggesting a consistent rollout regardless of device ecosystem. While no official release date is confirmed, the parallel testing across platforms indicates this feature could reach stable versions within the coming months.

This update represents WhatsApp's continued evolution beyond basic messaging toward more sophisticated communication tools, responding to user requests while maintaining its privacy-first architecture. The selective history sharing model balances convenience with transparency, acknowledging that not all group conversations benefit from complete historical visibility for new participants.