WhatsApp is working on a new tool to do searches by date within conversations. Here's how it works and when it's coming
After a hiatus caused by the lockdown, WhatsApp developers have taken back many projects that were momentarily stalled. In the coming months, the messaging application is ready to welcome many small innovations that will revolutionize a little bit the use of WhatsApp. One of the most interesting is a new way to search for received and sent messages in a conversation.
One of the biggest limitations of the messaging app is the search function on which WhatsApp has repeatedly tried to put his hand, without succeeding. Now comes a rather interesting novelty: users will be able to search for a received or sent message directly by date. For the moment, the feature is still in alpha stage, that is, it is in development and testing among employees, but soon it could debut in the beta version of WhatsApp. The guys at WaBetaInfo, the first to spread the news, have assured that the new tool will arrive on both Android and iOS, although at this early stage it is only being tested on the iPhone. Here's how it works.
How to search for messages by date on WhatsApp
The "search" feature is already present on WhatsApp, but for the moment it does not allow you to find a message by date. You can only search by "words" and you can understand that it is quite complicated to go find a precise message sent two or three months ago.
WaBetaInfo has published images showing how the tool will work. Remember that for the moment it is only available on the iPhone and only in the alpha version, not accessible to the public. When a user presses the "Search" button, a calendar icon will appear on the text bar: tapping it will open a mini-calendar with month, day and date. By choosing an exact day, it will be possible to see all the messages exchanged on that date. Very convenient if you don't remember exactly what you said, but only the period in which you wrote the message.
WhatsApp, comes the reverse search for images
Another novelty, available for the moment always on iPhone, concerns the fight against fake news. During the lockdown period, WhatsApp has partnered with Google to offer users a fact-checking tool. Next to messages that are forwarded too frequently (and which can be recognized by a double arrow at the top), there is a magnifying glass that allows users to do a Google search on the topic of the message.
Now the magnifying glass also arrives for images sent too frequently. This way, users can do a reverse search and figure out if it's a meme, fake news or a true story.
When the new features arrive on WhatsApp
For both cases, these are still features under development and only available to developers who are testing them. If all goes well, in the coming weeks they will arrive in the beta version and then in the official one.