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What you need to know

• WhatsApp expands chat filters with new categories and offers the ability to add new ones.

• Users will be able to view them alongside the previous All, Unread, Favorites and Groups filters.

• The ability to create new lists has already been available to users of the messaging platform since last week; a wider rollout is expected in the coming weeks.

Meta’s WhatsApp is spicing up its chat filters by allowing users to create custom ones, according to a recent company blog post.

WhatsApp first introduces chat filters earlier this year to improve the ability to find and organize messages. The latest addition, however, is presented as an evolution of these lists, according to WhatsApp.

With the new customization option, users can further filter their chats with categories like local neighborhood, work, and friends or create a new custom one. Previously, these filters were limited to All, Unread, Favorites, and Groups.

Creating new ones seems to be no problem. Users can swipe down from the “Chats” screen to see the default filters at the top, where they can now access the new “+” button.

Similar to the Favorites filter, WhatsApp notes that users “can add both groups and one-on-one chats to a list, and any list you create will appear in the filter bar.”

The ability to create new lists will be available for the messaging platform users from Thursday (October 31), and WhatsApp notes that a wider rollout of the feature is expected in the coming weeks.

The new addition comes after WhatsApp recently announced the ability to add contacts privately via WhatsApp Web and also via Windows platforms or Android tablets.

Previously, the ability to add a new contact was only possible through the user’s primary account. Android phone or an iOS handset, by adding a phone number or scanning a QR code. The messaging platform’s focus on introducing these new features is ultimately to “manage and save contacts by username.”

Another interesting development is a chat memory function for Meta AI on the platform. For those who use the AI ​​assistant frequently, the chatbot will soon have a memory feature that will allow users to store their preferences to get a more personalized response when chatting with the assistant.