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WhatsApp is bringing handy storage, search features to your phone (Updated)
- WhatsApp could soon let you search messages by date.
- The platform is also reportedly adding new tools to manage storage.
- The storage management tool is rolling out this week.
Update: November 3 2020 (3AM ET): WhatsApp has announced that it’s pushing out a new storage management tool this week to users worldwide. As WABetaInfo reported in the original article below, the new tool shows you frequently forwarded files, large files, and more. You can visit the article over here for more on the new tool.
Original article: June 12 2020 (4:08AM ET): Some handy new features are headed to WhatsApp for Android and iOS. As reported by WABetaInfo — a website that tracks new and upcoming changes to WhatsApp — the platform could soon make searching messages and managing storage even simpler.
The first new feature — Search by date — will reportedly allow users to quickly search for WhatsApp messages by picking a date. WhatsApp already has an in-chat search functionality and with the addition of the new feature, tracking older messages will become even easier.
According to WABetaInfo, the Search by date function is currently in the early stages of development so it’s not yet available to WhatsApp beta users. However, images shared by the tipsters show that when it goes live, you’ll see a new calendar icon when you use the in-chat search feature. Tapping on the calendar will let you select the desired date for message searches in a particular chat. Check out the images below to get a sense of how the new feature will work.
Next up is a new feature to manage file storage on WhatsApp. The platform is reportedly testing a bunch of new storage tools and will soon add them to a redesigned storage usage section. For instance, there will be two new default filters to find different types of messages. One lets you search for forwarded files, while the other lets you segregate large files. The sort button will also apparently offer some new default actions: Newest, Newest, and Size.
WABetaInfo notes that these storage features are currently in development and will receive some improvements before becoming mainstream. We’ll keep you informed as and when WhatsApp starts rolling out all these new features out to the general public.