Millions of us use WhatsApp every day to stay in touch with friends and family thanks to the free app’s ability to send instant messages, photos, videos and emojis to anyone with an iPhone or an Android phone.
But sometimes we can get bogged down in the instant part of instant messaging, feeling the pressure to reply to messages as soon as they come in, replying to messages in the middle of the night, or not being able to find the words when you need them.
Meta, the Facebook owner that also owns WhatsApp, has rolled out an update to all WhatsApp users globally that it believes will help with this. Once you’ve updated the app on your phone, you’ll be able to save drafts of messages you type to people. If you tap into a chat and type out some text in the usual message box but don’t hit send, when you go back to your chat list the app will store the message there for later.
As you can see from the image above, these messages will then sit at the top of your chat list with ‘Draft’ written in green to remind you that message hasn’t been sent yet.
WhatsApp used to save unsent texts in chats, but there was no way to check where those drafts were. Now, any drafted message will appear in your app, making it much easier to find them.
It should mean you can draft a series of messages to send to people around the same time, or compose a sensitive or thoughtful text over the course of a few hours to make sure you say the right thing. WhatsApp is a great way to stay in touch, but firing off a series of texts straight away – or in the heat of the moment – isn’t always the best way to communicate.
WhatsApp calls this new feature Message Drafts, which makes sense. The firm said it’s “a new and easy way to find and complete your unfinished messages on WhatsApp.
“Whether you get interrupted or distracted while typing or simply forget to send a message, this feature helps you save time and effort, allowing you to find and get back to those messages quickly.”
The feature is showing up on our phone already, and in fact we’re pretty sure it was working before WhatsApp announced Message Drafts officially on Thursday 14 November. If it’s not on your phone yet, head to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, search for WhatsApp and then tap ‘update’ if there is one available.