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WhatsApp for iOS working on new Archived Chats tab

Believe it or not, Archived Chats on WhatsApp will finally be useful. The app just submitted a new beta for its iOS version on TestFlight with new features for Archived Chats. Here’s how it’s going to work.

According to WABetaInfo, with WhatsApp beta version 2.21.120.10, the app will feature a brand-new Archived Chats tab. With that, when the “Keep chats archived” is enable within WhatsApp, every time the user receives a message from an archived chat, it won’t be unarchived.

As it stands today, if the user archives a chat then receives a new message, it will return to the main chats tab. With this update, which is currently in beta, it won’t happen if the user doesn’t want to. All it needs to do is click on “WhatsApp Settings,” “Chats,” and then “Keep chats archived.”

With this new feature, the user can quickly manage multiple archived chats at once using the “Edit” button.

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When the new archive is enable on WhatsApp, here’s what’s going to happen, according to WABetaInfo:

  • The archived chat cell is also pinned at the top of your chat list if you have archived chats into
  • The archived chat cell is always visible and cannot be hidden.
  • The archived chat cell reports the number of unread chats.
  • If someone mentioned you in an archived group, you will see the symbol @ in the archived chat cell.

The team behind the app has also been working on some other features, such as support for disappearing mode. When this feature is available, the user will need to go to WhatsApp Settings, Privacy, and then toggle on the Disappearing Mode function.

Recently, in an interview with WABetaInfo, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the WhatsApp app for iPad is coming after being asked about multi-device support:

Q: And… what about multi device?

A: And yes this is coming too! 

Q: So do you mean I can really use the same WhatsApp account on multiple devices, without an active internet connection on my main device?

A: Yup. It’s been a big technical challenge to get all your messages and content to sync properly across devices even when your phone battery dies, but we’ve solved this and we’re looking forward to getting it out soon!

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