Overview
- WhatsApp began rolling out the in‑chat search shortcut to some iPhone users on Thursday, placing a search button near the top of a chat that appears when you scroll up and hides when you return to the latest messages.
- Tapping the control calls the same search interface users already know, letting them type a keyword and jump between matching messages without opening the chat or channel info screen.
- The shortcut works across one‑to‑one chats, group chats and Channels, so users can search older updates in high‑volume conversations without extra navigation.
- WhatsApp tested an earlier floating button in beta at the bottom of the screen in August but moved the final control to a contextual position below the navigation bar to avoid on‑screen conflicts.
- The feature was discovered in WhatsApp for iOS build 26.36.74 by WABetaInfo and is being reported by multiple outlets, with availability varying by account because the company is rolling the update out gradually and has given no full release date.