The hugely popular instant messaging app WhatsApp has received a big update on iPhone that adds some much-needed features and tweaks existing ones to make them even better.

The WhatsApp update carries version number 23.1.75 and is available for free from the App Store now and if you have automatic updates turned on you might already have it. Once you do you can look forward to some new stuff, starting with much-improved search capabilities.

With the update installed, you'll be able to quickly and easily search a conversation by date for the first time. The interface is as simple as selecting the date that you want to jump to and the app will jump to it - no more scrolling through long conversations just to get to something someone said last week.

Another notable improvement is the ability to now drag & drop images, videos, and other documents from other apps. You can drag an image from the Photos app for example, or a link from Safari. Whatever it is, you can drag and drop it ready to be sent wherever.

There's more, too. WhatsApp now lets you undo a "delete for me" action for a few seconds, while new privacy controls offer the ability to control who can see when you're online.

WhatsApp has now also made it easier to create a new chat with yourself, something that didn't cross our mind as a real feature at first. But it turns out that some people leave themselves messages as a way of creating a reminder or note. Now you can just tap a new "Message Yourself" button to get started.

If you don't yet have WhatsApp installed you can download it for free now. An update for those on Android is also available that includes most of these features. You can grab that from the Google Play Store now as well.