WhatsApp is limiting how people forward messages to each other

Whatsapp Group Message on iPhone X (Image credit: Luke Filipowicz/iMore)

What you need to know

WhatsApp is testing a change that will limit how forwarded messages are forwarded further.
A forwarded message will only be able to be forwarded to one more group when this new feature rolls out to everyone.

WhatsApp is reportedly testing a limit on the number of people that a forwarded message can be forwarded to. Currently, there is no limit but the latest version of the WhatsApp beta release adds one for the first time.

With the latest WhatsApp beta installed, users are limited to only being able to forward a forwarded message to a single group chat. The move is likely related to an attempt to limit the amount of spam and misinformation that spreads across apps like WhatsApp like wildfire.

WABetaInfo notes that the change is already available to some Android beta testers but those who are part of the WhatsApp TestFlight program will now also be included.

Whatsapp Forwarded Message Limit (Image credit: WABetaInfo)

As you can see in this screenshot, it is no longer possible to forward forwarded messages to more than one group chat at a time and this is an additional way to limit spam and misinformation. New rules for forwarding messages only apply to already forwarded messages. The new limitation has been already rolled out to certain Android beta testers, but WhatsApp is now enabling the same restriction to more users that install the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.8.11 update and more people will get the same changes in the coming weeks.

There is currently no indication of when we can expect this new forwarding limit to be added to the version of WhatsApp that is available in the App Store, unfortunately. WhatsApp is currently one of the best iPhone apps at what it does and if this change can limit how quickly misinformation spreads, all the better.

Don't yet have WhatsApp installed? You can grab it from the App Store now.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.