WhatsApp is expected to soon bring new features to the platform including Advance Search, Backup Password Protection and new Download Rules for multimedia.
WhatsApp needs no introduction. It is globally the most popular instant messaging app and has the most number of users. The Facebook-owned company is constantly working on launching new features and some of them were recently spotted on a beta update. According to WABetaInfo, we can expect at least three new features coming soon to WhatsApp.
Advance Search
Considering the large number of messages sent on the app, including photos, GIFs, videos, documents, this feature makes sense. It can be very tedious to go back and search for previously shared media, hence a new advanced search feature is said to be in the works. WhatsApp beta v2.20.117 was recently released with fixes for random crashes due to a missing library called “libcurve25519.so.” Apart from the fix, the update also reveals the new Advance Search feature. The new search feature will expand the current chat search option which is currently limited to only text messages.
Backup Password Protection
This feature was spotted earlier on WhatsApp beta v2.20.66 where users can set a password of their chat backups on Google Drive. The feature would be accessible in the Chat backup settings which would easily encrypt your chat backups with a password. This will offer peace of mind as neither WhatsApp nor Google will be able to view your chat contents.
Auto Download Rules
The biggest issue with WhatsApp is the plethora of forwarded messages. Not only do they clutter up the app, but they also bring a host of unwanted multimedia with them. WhatsApp is trying to curb excessive forwarding of messages by recently announcing restrictions on forwarded messages in India to just one chat at a time. It is also expected to soon disable auto-download of frequently forwarded messages that include images, videos, documents, and voice messages.