WhatsApp is working on a new moderation feature that will allow group admins to manually approve the entry of new members.

Currently, the instant messaging app only allows admins to add contacts to a group. To do this, they can add them directly to the conversation or share an access link with them.

However, the app is now developing a new moderation tool that will allow admins of a group to manually approve the login of new users, according to the private portal WABetaInfo.

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This new feature, called ‘Confirm new participants’, was noticed in the 2.22.18.9 beta version of the app for Android devices.

As this particular portal points out, this functionality is very likely to be accompanied by a new section with a list of current requests from users who want to join a group.

The group’s admins will have full authority in this ‘waiting room’ so they can decide whether or not to accept incoming requests. It is not yet known when this function will arrive, as it is still under development.

The rest of the participants will also be able to add users

In line with this new feature, WABetaInfo has developed another feature that WhatsApp is currently working on. An moderation permission that an admin of a group can enable so that other participants can add new users.

The portal learned the origin of this tool in version 2.22.14.6 of the WhatsApp beta for Android, where it also confirmed that the platform will notify the participants of a group when the administrator enables this option.

This way, other users in the group chat will also be aware that they have this ability, via a notification that will appear inside the conversation.

This other tool is also under development, so it is not currently available to beta users, and the distribution date is unknown among the app’s user base.