WhatsApp for iOS will now limit the number of messages you can forward to others. It is an attempt to stop the spread of misinformation using WhatsApp and prevent unnecessary commotion among users.
WhatsApp has become a bubbling pot of fake news and rumors that malign the user experience and hurt the overall image of the platform.
According to the coverage by WaBetaInfo, WhatsApp rolled out the message forward limit for Android users last month and today it makes its way to iOS users too
WhatsApp began testing this message forward limit feature in Brazil three years back. That feature is now rolling it out for iOS and Android globally.
The recent update for WhatsApp for iOS beta version 22.7.0.76 adds the message forward limit for the users.
It is still in the beta rollout phase, so it won’t be available to anyone outside the beta version ecosystem. The message forward limit feature will be slowly rolled out to all WhatsApp users after fixing the kinks in the beta version.
The message forward feature limits the number of users to whom you can forward a message at a time. It maintains a track of the number of times a message has been forwarded before.
So, if you try to forward a message flagged by the system to more than one group of users. You will receive an error warning “Forwarded messages can only be sent to one group chat.” Thus, if someone tries to forward an already forwarded message to more than one group, it is not possible to do so now.
Make note that the WhatsApp iOS app doesn’t stop you from forwarding the message. You can still do it by sending it to one group at a time.
It just makes it cumbersome to indulge in the message and rumor-forwarding practice on WhatsApp. If you are the original creator of the message, WhatsApp allows you to forward it to as many groups as you like.
Apart from this message limit feature, WhatsApp is also testing a Communities feature. It will create a platform to connect all the related groups in one community.
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