WhatsApp groups get new features: Admin controls, participant search and more

WhatsApp has announced a slew of new features for groups. These new features will be included in the stable Android and iOS versions of the app. Most of these new features were already included in the Android beta builds and stable versions. Some were spotted on the previous beta builds and were disabled later.

Now, it is official that the group admins will get new features such as mention button, participant search, the ability to set a group description and new controls. These features will be available to both the existing and new groups.

These new features were sent out via an email statement. It shows that groups are always an important aspect of the overall WhatsApp experience. And, these features will offer an improved user experience. Let's take a look at the new features available for the group admins from here.

Add a group description

With the latest update, the Facebook-owned messaging platform has rolled out the ability for the admins to add a group description. The creators of groups can add a description letting them display a short summary describing the purpose and guidelines of the group. The description can be changed by the admins. And, the admins can also allow the members of the group to change the description or restrict them from doing so.

WhatsApp group admin controls

Apart from adding a group description, the group admins can also let members change the subject and icon of the group. They can also remove admin permissions of other participants. And, creators of the group can no longer be removed by other admins of the group.

Group catch up

The new 'group catch up' feature lets users find the messages in which they were mentioned or those that reply to them. In order to find these messages, the group users have to just tap the @ button at the bottom right corner of the chat window.

Detel D1 Dezire First Impressions

Participant search

The last feature is the ability to search for participants belonging to a group. This is possible by visiting the Group Info section. The messaging platform has also announced that it is harder for users to re-add the users who have left the group. This will curb the spam group invitations.