WhatsApp group admins can now approve or deny people from entering a group chat

WhatsApp, one of the biggest instant messaging platforms out there, has announced a couple of new features focused on helping people get the most out of the group chat feature. In particular, Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp says that these new tools will not only make groups more manageable for admins but also easier to navigate for everyone in general.

The first big feature coming to WhatsApp is new controls for group chat admins. According to Meta, as more and more users join and take part in different communities, they want to give group admins more control over the privacy of the group. As such, they’ve built a new tool that would allow the admins in charge to determine who exactly is able to join the WhatsApp group that they’re in charge of. Whenever a group admit creates an invite link for the group or makes it joinable to others, they’ll now be able to approve or deny new requests to join the group. This gives admins more control over a group chat where intimate conversations often take place.

On top of that, Meta is also giving users an easier way to see what groups you have in common with someone else. It used to be that you’ll need to first go to the chat with the person, and then tap to see their profile, scroll all the way down and then only will you see how many groups you have in common with this person. However, with the new update, Meta is letting WhatsApp users simply search for the contact’s name in the app and then it’ll display all the groups you have in common with them.

Meta says that these new features should start rolling out to users around the world within the coming weeks. For more about the new WhatsApp group features, you can check out Meta’s full blog post on it here.