In this article
Opening the search field shows the people and chats you have opened most recently, before you type anything. It is a short list of where you have been, and tapping one is faster than finding it in the chat list.
Combined with the swipe that goes back, and the jump that returns you to where you were reading, it is most of what makes a thousand-chat account navigable.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Get back to a chat you were just in, in one tap.
- check_circle Return to your place after following a link or a reply.
- check_circle Clear the recent list when you would rather it were empty.
- check_circle Stop using the chat list as your only way around.
The row of recent contacts appears the moment the search field is focused, before any typing.
history Three ways back
The recent list is the one nobody uses. Tap the search field and the chats you have been in lately are already there, so returning to a conversation you left a minute ago never requires scrolling.
The swipe back is standard but worth naming: dragging from the edge of the screen leaves a chat, and repeating it walks back through where you came from.
The return jump is the useful one inside a conversation. Tap a reply to go to the message it answers, and a button appears to take you back to where you were reading — the same when you jump to a date or follow a link to an old message. Without it, following a reply in a long chat means losing your place.
Four moments of getting lost
Each has a specific way out that is faster than starting again.
swap_horiz Copying between conversations
reply Going up and coming back
search The chat you cannot see
visibility_off It is a trail on your screen
Recent for where you just were, search for everything else, and folders for where you always go.
settings Moving around
- Tap the search field without typing The recent chats are listed straight away.
- Swipe from the edge to go back Repeatedly, to walk back through where you came from.
- Tap the quoted text of a reply To jump to the original.
- Use the floating arrow to return It takes you back to where you jumped from.
- Pin or file the chats you keep searching for Searching daily means something is missing.
- Clear the recent list when you want to By holding an entry or clearing all.
This page is getting back to a chat. The curriculum step is deciding which chats should be asking for you at all: marking things unread deliberately, clearing the list, and a routine that keeps the front page meaningful.
At a glance
- 1Recent chats
Tap the search box to see the chats you were just in.
- 2Back to your place
After jumping to a reply, tap the arrow to return.
- 3Clear the list
Remove recent searches if you would rather they were hidden.
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