WhatsApp beta lets you log who bailed on your group chats

Meta has been working on adding a steady stream of new capabilities to WhatsApp as of late, mostly with a focus on group chats. The platform is now more accommodating ofconversations with over 100 people, and the recently announcedCommunities featurecould bring like-minded folk together for enriching conversation. With groups swelling on WhatsApp, it helps to keep tabs on new participants — as well as those who leave the conversation. The instant messaging app is now beta-testing the capability to maintain a log of any deserters (as well as the evicted), so admins and members aren’t left scratching their heads.

WhatsApp beta 2.22.17.21 on Android allows group members and admins to see who quit the group or was removed from it in the last 60 days. Beta testers toldWABetaInfothat under the list of current participants in the ‘Group info’ tab, a new option called ‘See Past Participants’ is visible. This list of former 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.

Following the beta release on iOS earlier this week, some testers have been able to access the new feature on Android today, and more user should get their shot soon as WhatsApp flips the switch. Given the app’s cross-platform nature, it will probablt also be headed to the desktop version sooner or later. Recently, WhatsApp was also seen testing a way tohelp administrators moderate contenton groups by deleting messages. We hope that feature gets here soon, too, so large chats become a little more manageable.