Topics collide
Three plans run at once in one stream. To follow the trip, you read every match message in between.
WhatsApp
- Role
- Product designer
- Type
- Self-directed concept
- Platform
- WhatsApp mobile
- Year
- 2026
Feature concept · WhatsApp
Threads for busy group chats
The problem
Three plans, one stream.
In a group of 50, the trip plan gets buried under match talk.
Today View all 14 replies →
Arjun
Goa trip — Dec 20 to 24? Who’s in?6:02 PM
Goa trip · Dec 20–24Meera
Did anyone watch the match last night??6:03 PM
Last night’s matchSana
Who’s chipping in for Rohit’s birthday gift? 🤫6:05 PM
Rohit’s gift 🤫Dev
Good evening everyone ☀️6:10 PM
Tap a reply count to expand or collapse the thread
In a group of 50 friends, some are planning a trip while others are talking about something completely different. I designed optional reply threads, so each conversation stays in one place.
The problem
“One thing that annoys me about WhatsApp is how conversations get mixed up in large groups. It gets hard to follow.”
Replies lose their place
A quoted reply lands at the bottom of the chat, far from the message it answers. You scroll up to rebuild the context.
Catching up gives text, not structure
300 unread means reading it all or skipping it all. A summary shortens that to one block of text, but it doesn’t show which conversations exist, who is in them or which are still going.
Problem statement
Who it’s for
A member of a WhatsApp group with 20 or more people, where several plans run at once.
The problem
To follow one conversation in a large group, members have to read all of them. Plans get buried under unrelated chat, and catching up means reading everything or skipping everything.
How might we
How might we let a member of a 20+ person group follow, find and catch up on a single conversation, without changing how the group chats today?
Outcome: Members find the plan they need faster, and when they come back after a break they read what matters to them.
The solution
Optional inline threads. People reply under a specific message instead of in the main chat. Each thread has a title, collapses to one line with its reply count, and expands in place, the way replies fold open under a Reddit comment.
Reddit, as an example: comment replies collapse and expand right where they are, with no new screen. I borrow that idea, but keep replies one level deep so they fit a phone.
Start a thread
Long-press any message and reply in a thread, right next to the Reply you already know.
Current
Today
Meera
Did anyone watch the match last night??6:03 PM
Arjun
Goa trip — Dec 20 to 24? Who’s in?6:02 PM
- Reply is the only option, so every answer goes into the main stream
- A quoted reply lands far from the message it answers
- A side conversation has no place of its own
Redesign
Today
Meera
Did anyone watch the match last night??6:03 PM
Arjun
Goa trip — Dec 20 to 24? Who’s in?6:02 PM
- “Reply in thread” sits right next to the Reply you already know
- The thread gets a title from the message, and you can edit it
- Nothing changes until someone chooses it, so small groups stay the same
Replies in threads
Replies sit under the message they answer, collapsed to one line with a title and a reply count.
Current
Today
Arjun
Goa trip — Dec 20 to 24? Who’s in?6:02 PM
Meera
Did anyone watch the match last night??6:03 PM
Priya
I’m in!! 🌴6:03 PM
Karthik
That last over was unreal 🔥6:04 PM
Sana
Who’s chipping in for Rohit’s birthday gift?6:05 PM
Neha Arjun Goa trip — Dec 20 to 24?
Wait, which dates?6:06 PM
Dev
Still can’t believe that catch6:06 PM
Meera
I can do ₹5006:07 PM
Arjun
Booking train tickets tonight, ₹1,850 each6:08 PM
Karthik
Highlights link 👇6:08 PM
Priya
Headphones? He keeps losing his6:09 PM
Dev
Good evening everyone ☀️6:10 PM
- Goa trip
- Last night’s match
- Rohit’s gift
- Everything else
- Every reply goes into one flat timeline
- A quoted reply points back to a message, but the conversation stays scattered
- Nothing shows how many people are in a discussion
- Muting applies to the whole group
Redesign
Today View all 14 replies →
Arjun
Goa trip — Dec 20 to 24? Who’s in?6:02 PM
Goa trip · Dec 20–24Meera
Did anyone watch the match last night??6:03 PM
Last night’s matchSana
Who’s chipping in for Rohit’s birthday gift? 🤫6:05 PM
Rohit’s gift 🤫Dev
Good evening everyone ☀️6:10 PM
- Replies collect under the message they answer
- Each thread has a title and collapses to one line
- Avatars and “last reply” show what’s active right now
- Unread and mute work per thread
Catch up after a break
A “While you were away” screen lists what happened by thread, instead of one long scroll.
Current
Today
300 unread messages
Arjun
Goa trip — Dec 20 to 24? Who’s in?6:02 PM
Meera
Did anyone watch the match last night??6:03 PM
Priya
I’m in!! 🌴6:03 PM
Karthik
That last over was unreal 🔥6:04 PM
Sana
Who’s chipping in for Rohit’s birthday gift?6:05 PM
Neha Arjun Goa trip — Dec 20 to 24?
Wait, which dates?6:06 PM
Dev
Still can’t believe that catch6:06 PM
Meera
I can do ₹5006:07 PM
Arjun
Booking train tickets tonight, ₹1,850 each6:08 PM
Karthik
Highlights link 👇6:08 PM
Priya
Headphones? He keeps losing his6:09 PM
Dev
Good evening everyone ☀️6:10 PM
- 300 unread means reading it all or skipping it all
- A jump-to-bottom button hides what you missed
- A summary gives one block of text, not the conversations
Redesign
Today
While you were away 3 hours · 47 new messages
Muted
Last night’s match 23 new
4 other messages in the main chat
- Threads are listed by title, with new counts
- Each card shows the real latest reply, not generated text
- Muted threads sit below, and loose messages are counted once
Anatomy of a thread
- 1
Parent message
An ordinary message. It only becomes a thread when someone replies in one.
- 2
Thread title
Says what the thread is about, so you can skip it without opening it. It starts as the first words of the message, and the starter can edit it.
- 3
Who’s in it
Up to three avatars, so you can tell at a glance whether it’s your conversation.
- 4
Reply count
The tap target. It expands and collapses the thread.
- 5
Last activity
Shows whether a thread is still active or finished.
- 6
Unread badge
Counts new replies in this thread only, separate from the group total.
States and edge cases
Proposed behaviour for the cases that usually get missed. None of it is tested yet.
-
NotificationsOnly people following a thread are alerted. Mentions always are.
-
Muted threadLeft out of the unread count. Mentions still get through.
-
Older app versionSees ordinary quoted replies and can’t start a thread.
-
Admin off-switchAdmins can turn threads off. Existing ones stay readable.
-
New, empty threadTitle ready to edit. Leave without replying and it’s discarded.
How others handle it
| Option | What it does | What it leaves out |
|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp group chat today | One flat timeline. A quoted reply shows the message above it, and mute applies to the whole group. | Conversations stay interleaved. There is no way to follow just one. |
| WhatsApp threaded replies In testing | Reported in beta tests: reply to a message and its replies open as a separate thread. Not a confirmed public feature. | In the reports I found, no thread titles and no catch-up view. |
| Telegram Topics | A group is split into topics. Each topic is its own sub-chat with its own notification settings. | Topics are created for the whole group, by admins by default. They sort by subject, not under the message that started a conversation. |
| AI summaries WhatsApp Message Summaries | Optional and on request: a short text recap of unread messages. | One block of text. It doesn’t show which conversations exist, who is in them or which are still active. |
| Slack threads | Reply under a message, and a Threads view collects the ones you follow. | Built around workspaces and channels, which is heavier than a friends’ group on a phone needs. |
| This concept | Inline threads under the message, each with a title and its own unread count and mute, plus a “While you were away” screen. | It depends on someone starting a thread. Chat that is never put in a thread stays in the main flow. |
Based on each product’s public description, November 2026. Features change, so treat this as a snapshot.
How I’d test it
This is a concept, so nothing here has been tested yet. Here is how I’d validate it before calling it a solution.
First, talk to people
5–8 short chats with members of groups of 20+: how they follow a plan, what they do after being away, and whether they mute. This would replace my own observation with evidence.
Then, with a prototype. Who: Active groups of 20+ members, such as friend groups, college batches and housing societies, using a clickable prototype.
Follow a conversation
“What dates did the group settle on for the trip?” Can people answer without scrolling through other topics?
Find a message
Time to find a specific plan or link, compared with today’s flat chat.
Catch up after a break
After 100+ unread, can people tell which conversations matter to them?
Adopt it unprompted
Do people start threads on their own, or keep replying in the main chat?
What I’d measure
Time to find a plan
Seconds to find the agreed trip dates, in today’s chat and with threads.
Threads started unprompted
The share of threads that members start without being asked. A low share means the long-press entry isn’t being found.
Unread messages read per thread
After a break, how much of each thread people read. Followed threads should be read and muted ones skipped, which shows the catch-up screen is helping them choose.