You open WhatsApp after a busy morning and your family group has 214 new messages. Somewhere in that flood, someone mentioned you by name — maybe your mother asking a question, maybe your boss dropping a deadline. Finding that one message means scrolling backwards for minutes, past jokes, good-morning images and forwarded videos, hoping your eyes catch the little “@” before your thumb gives up. WhatsApp now appears to be working on a way to end that hunt: a new mention and reply filter that collects every message where you were tagged or answered into one place, with a badge at the top of your chat list showing exactly how many are waiting for you. Here is the honest catch, stated first: it is only in Android beta testing right now, and nobody on the regular app can use it yet. This article explains what has been reported, how it is supposed to work, and what you can do in the meantime.
Beta Only: Not on Your Phone Yet
The mention and reply filter has been introduced as a new chat-list filter for Android beta testers. It was included in WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.26.42.12, which was released to beta testers on 23 October 2026 and reported on 24 October 2026 — it is fresh, but it is strictly a beta discovery. A few honest points before anything else:
- This is NOT on the stable app. If you download or update WhatsApp from the Play Store today, you will not find it.
- This has NOT been announced by WhatsApp or Meta. There is no press release, no official post, no launch announcement.
- This is NOT on iOS. No iPhone version has been reported anywhere.
- The reporting comes from beta-version tracking, not from WhatsApp itself. That means the name, the design and even the behaviour could change before any public release — or the feature could arrive looking different from what is described below.
The only thing a regular user can take from this right now is that WhatsApp is testing it and it may reach everyone later. Everything below describes what has been reported for beta users, nothing more.
The Problem: Your Mentions Get Buried Every Single Day
To understand why this small filter matters so much, you have to look at how Pakistanis actually use WhatsApp. The average person here is not in one or two quiet groups. They are in a family group with thirty relatives, a school or university group with fifty classmates, an office group with the whole team, a mohalla or community group with hundreds of neighbours, and a cousins group that never sleeps. Each of those groups produces hundreds of messages a day — birthday wishes, forwarded videos, political arguments, market prices, prayer timings, and the same good-morning image sent by three different aunties.
The current hunt looks like this: you notice a group has new messages, you open it, and you start scrolling. The conversation has moved on — people are now arguing about petrol prices, but forty screens back, your brother asked “bhai ye bill dekh le.” You keep scrolling, your thumb tiring, your eyes scanning for that small @ symbol. Sometimes you find it. Sometimes you miss it entirely and only learn about it when someone calls you annoyed: “tumne dekha nahi? tumhe tag kia tha!”
That daily annoyance is exactly what the new filter is built to remove. Instead of opening each group and scrolling for your mentions, the idea is one tap on one badge: here are all the messages in which you were mentioned or replied to, across every group and community you are in, with nothing else in the way.
How the Mention and Reply Filter Works
According to what has been reported for beta users, the filter works like this, step by step.
First, the filter sits as a dedicated badge at the top of the Chats tab — the screen that shows all your conversations. You do not have to dig into settings or open a special menu to check it. It is right there where you look every time you open WhatsApp.
Second, the badge shows a count: the number of pending mentions and replies waiting for you. If three different groups contain messages where you were tagged or answered, the badge shows that count at a glance. No scrolling, no guessing, no opening groups one by one to check. The number tells you whether anything needs your attention before you even start.
Third, opening the filter shows the group and community chats where you were mentioned or replied to. The filter narrows your whole chat list down to just the conversations that contain an interaction aimed at you. You tap one, and you land directly on the message that mentions you or replies to you — no more scrolling through hundreds of unrelated messages to find it.
Fourth, when there is nothing waiting for you, the filter shows an empty screen. That is just as useful as the list itself: one tap confirms that nobody has tagged you or replied to you anywhere, and you can go back to your day without the nagging feeling that you missed something.
In short, the filter turns a hunt into a single tap. The count tells you if there is anything to see; the list shows you exactly where it is; the empty screen tells you there is nothing. Every step happens at the top of the Chats tab, which is the one screen every WhatsApp user visits dozens of times a day.
Groups and Communities: Both Are Covered
One important detail in the reporting is that the filter works across group chats and community chats alike. That distinction matters, because WhatsApp’s communities feature has grown popular in Pakistan — school networks, housing societies, trader associations and large organisations now run communities with several linked groups inside them. A mention can hide just as easily in a community announcement group as in a normal family group.
The filter reportedly tracks both. So whether you were tagged in your cousins’ group or replied to inside a community sub-group, the badge is supposed to count it and the filter is supposed to show it. For people who belong to large communities, that coverage is the difference between a useful feature and a half-useful one.
The table below summarises the status of everything we know right now:
| What | Status |
|---|---|
| Android beta (version 2.26.42.12) | In testing — released to beta testers on 23 October 2026 |
| Stable Android app | Not available — do not expect to find it |
| iOS | Not reported — no iPhone version known |
| Official announcement by WhatsApp | None — this is a reported beta feature only |
| Release date for everyone | Unknown — no date given |
Customise It or Turn It Off Completely
Not every new feature suits every person, and the reported design seems to respect that. Users can reportedly customise how visible the filter is. If you like the idea but do not want the badge staring at you at the top of the Chats tab, you can move it to a secondary menu — still one tap away, but out of the main view. And if you do not want the filter at all, you can disable it entirely.
That flexibility is worth noting, because a badge with a count on it can feel like pressure. Some people check WhatsApp to relax, and a constant number reminding them of unread mentions would defeat the purpose. The ability to tuck the filter into a secondary menu — or switch it off completely — means the feature serves the people who want it and stays out of the way of everyone else. Of course, this too is beta behaviour; the final version may offer these same options, more options, or fewer.
What This Is NOT — Clearing Up Confusion
Because WhatsApp is testing several new things at once, it is easy to mix them up. This filter is none of the following.
It is NOT the call screening feature. WhatsApp is separately developing a call filtering feature for Android that answers unknown calls and asks the caller why they are calling — a completely different idea about calls, not about group mentions. The two features have nothing to do with each other beyond both being in testing.
It is NOT the Communities feature itself. Communities — the way WhatsApp organises groups under one umbrella — already exists on everyone’s app. This new filter is a tool for finding your mentions inside groups and communities, not the community structure itself.
It is NOT an official WhatsApp announcement. No official timeline, name or design has been confirmed. Treating a beta discovery as a launched product is how misunderstandings spread, so keep the label “in testing” on everything about this feature until WhatsApp says otherwise.
What You Can Do Today While You Wait
Since the filter is not on your phone, the useful question is: how do you stop missing mentions right now? A few honest, long-standing options exist.
Keep WhatsApp updated. This is the simplest rule for every upcoming feature. WhatsApp delivers everything through updates, and when the mention filter does reach the stable app — if it does — it will arrive through the Play Store like every other feature. An old version of the app will never get it.
Consider the beta programme — carefully. If you genuinely want new features before everyone else, you can join WhatsApp’s beta programme on the Google Play Store, which gives you testing versions of the app. The honest note: beta builds can have bugs. Messages can behave oddly, calls can drop, features can break. A beta is for people who accept instability in exchange for early access. If your WhatsApp is your lifeline for work or family, the stable app is the safer choice, and the filter will come to you in time.
Use what already exists. WhatsApp already shows an “@” indicator in the chat list next to groups where you have an unread mention — look for it before opening groups. You can also mute noisy groups so that only the messages that matter get your attention: a muted group does not buzz for every message, but your mentions still sit there for you to find. Combined with checking the “@” indicator first, this is the closest thing to a mention filter that exists today.
And when the real filter arrives, the habit will already be in place: check the badge, read what is aimed at you, ignore the rest. The technology will change; the peace of mind is the same.
Why This Small Feature Deserves Attention
WhatsApp’s biggest features get the headlines — new calls, new media tools, new designs. But the features that change daily life are often the small, boring ones that remove a repeated annoyance. Nobody will celebrate a mention filter. Yet for anyone in five busy groups, it removes a chore they perform every day: the scrolling, the hunting, the missed tags, the awkward “tumne dekha nahi?” calls afterwards.
It also shows where WhatsApp’s attention is. The app knows its busiest users drown in group noise, and it is building tools to surface the messages that are actually about you. A badge with a count is a small change to the Chats tab — and a real change to how hundreds of millions of group members spend their minutes.
The feature was reported for Android beta users by Wisevoter, which covered the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.26.42.12 release and its new mention and reply filter on 24 October 2026.
Also read: WhatsApp Call Screening Is Coming: WhatsApp Will Ask Unknown Callers Why They Are Calling and WhatsApp Communities vs Groups vs Channels
FAQs
Is the mention and reply filter available on my WhatsApp now?
Almost certainly not. It is in testing in WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.26.42.12, which went to beta testers on 23 October 2026. It is not on the stable Android app, it has not been officially announced, and no iOS version has been reported. Keep WhatsApp updated and wait — that is all a regular user can do today.
Where does the badge appear and what does it show?
It is reported to sit at the top of the Chats tab and show the count of pending mentions and replies waiting for you. Tapping it shows the group and community chats where you were mentioned or replied to; when nothing is pending, it shows an empty screen.
Does the filter work in communities too?
According to the reporting, yes — it tracks both group chats and community chats. So a mention in a normal family group and a reply inside a community sub-group are both supposed to be counted and shown.
What can I use today so I stop missing mentions?
Keep WhatsApp updated, and watch for the “@” indicator that already appears in the chat list next to groups where you have an unread mention. You can also mute noisy groups so only important messages interrupt you. If you want new features early, the Play Store beta programme offers testing builds — with the honest warning that beta versions can have bugs.