WhatsApp has been slowly but steadily gaining new features and quality-of-life improvements over the past months. Earlier in March, the app received Dark Mode support, followed by a bump in user limit for group voice and video calls, support for profile QR codes, and addition of animated stickers. Most recently, the app added the ability to let users quickly search Google to double-check the forwarded messages.

Now, the Instant Messaging app is preparing to add a new feature called Advanced Search mode. According to WABetainfo, WhatsApp has begun testing this new feature with a select few testers in the Beta channel. The function is currently being tested on the WhatsApp Beta versions 2.20.197.7 and 2.20.197.10, but it appears to be a server-side switch. We updated our app to the said version, but the feature wasn’t available for us as of writing this article.

The Advanced Search feature does exactly what its name implies. It lets you categorically search for photos, videos, links, GIFs, audio, and documents right from the search bar. The current search function offered in WhatsApp is quite limited in scope, and it's only good at sorting through chat messages. It doesn’t let you categorically search for media files and documents that you have shared with your contacts. The Advanced Search will simplify this process by allowing you to filter out your results across different categories.

The Advanced Search feature is already available on WhatsApp for iOS since March, so it’s not particularly a novel feature. Nonetheless, it’s good to see the feature finally making its way to the Android version of the app.

As noted above, the new feature isn’t available for all users and is currently limited to a small set of beta users. It’s unclear when the feature will make its way to the stable channel, but given WhatsApp’s track record with rolling out new features, it's safe to assume it probably won’t arrive anytime soon.

WhatsApp Messenger Developer: WhatsApp LLC
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Via: WABetainfo