LinkedIn Updates Messaging Experience With Easier Attachment Support, Mentions, and Stretchable Compose Box

Messaging on LinkedIn has been upgraded with a bunch of new features to deliver an enhanced conversational experience. To give more space to compose a longer message, LinkedIn has now started offering the ability to stretch the compose box. There is also a new attachment icon that appears alongside the GIF and camera icons on the compose screen to let you easily share attachments along with your personal and professional messages. You can additionally use @mentions to bring someone in a group message or share the profile of one of your colleagues in a message. For desktop users, there an ability to copy and paste images directly into your LinkedIn messages and conveniently share visuals such as screenshots or photos from the gallery. LinkedIn for iOS separately brought translations to posts in the newsfeed.

Among other features, LinkedIn has now offered mobile users with the option to stretch the compose box within its app to write longer messages. This helps to compose longer and more formal messages as a large amount of text is visible on the screen. While the feature is initially debuting on mobile devices, there are plans to bring its presence to desktops "in the next few weeks".

To stretch LinkedIn's new message compose box, you just need to tap the upward arrow icon from the right-most side of the box. You can also bring the size of the compose box down to default by tapping the downward arrow icon.

If stretching of the compose box is not helpful for you, LinkedIn has added an attachment icon that is designed to help you easily share attachments with your messages. You just need to tap the attachment icon and then select from the eligible file types, including PDF, DOC, XLS, and PPT, to upload. The new way to attach files within LinkedIn messages is touted to be one of the "most frequently requested messaging features".

For desktop users who prefer using emojis rather than text, LinkedIn has added a new emoji picker. It lets you select emojis by scrolling through the list and searching by keyword or choosing a category for options. Further, you can now also seamlessly copy and paste images from screenshots and images on the Web directly into your LinkedIn messages. This makes sharing visuals through LinkedIn Messaging easier than before.

Another new feature for mobile users is the convenient way to start and manage group messages. The LinkedIn app on mobile devices will now prompt you with smart suggestions for groups once you tap on the '+' icon. LinkedIn says in a blog post that the smart suggestions are based on your current or former employer, school, or people you've recently messaged with. You can also remove people from your messages in the LinkedIn app by tapping on the three dots from the top-right of your group message and then tap on remove people.

In addition to the major new changes, LinkedIn has also added @mentions in messaging to help you easily direct a comment at one of your group members. You can also use @mentions in a one-on-one conversation to share a profile of your colleagues to recommend them to a person in your connection in an easy way. LinkedIn for iOS has also specifically received the ability to translate posts in your newsfeed. The latest translation support supports over 60 languages and is rolling out to all iOS users in the coming weeks.

You can download the updated LinkedIn for iOS by visiting Apple App Store. An update has also arrived for Android devices that you can get on your smartphone or tablet directly from Google Play.