Method and apparatus for managing the display of messages of a group chat

A computing device comprising:

• one or more processors;
• memory;
• and
• one or more program modules stored in the memory and to be executed by the processors, the one or more program modules further including instructions for:
• receiving, from a user of the computing device, a first user request to open a target communication window on the screen, wherein the target communication window corresponds to a group chat of an online messaging application running on the computing device, and the computing device is communicatively connected to other computing devices from which other users participate the group chat;
• in response to the first user request, opening the target communication window on the computing device and displaying a first set of messages associated with the group chat in the target communication window on the computing device, wherein the first set of messages were received by the computing device after last closure of the target communication window on the computing device and includes a recently-received message;
• receiving, from the user of the computing device, a second user request to access an earlier-received message that was received in the group chat after the last closure of the target communication window on the computing device and before arrival of the first set of messages at the computing device;
• and
• in response to the second user request, replacing the display of the first set of messages with the display of a second set of messages in the target communication window on the computing device, wherein the second set of messages were received by the computing device after the last closure of the target communication window on the computing device and includes the earlier-received message.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing one or more program modules, wherein the one or more program modules, when executed by a computing device having one or more processors, cause the computing device to perform the following operations:

• receiving, from a user of the computing device, a first user request to open a target communication window on the screen, wherein the target communication window corresponds to a group chat of an online messaging application running on the computing device, and the computing device is communicatively connected to other computing devices from which other users participate the group chat;
• in response to the first user request, opening the target communication window on the computing device and displaying a first set of messages associated with the group chat in the target communication window on the computing device, wherein the first set of messages were received by the computing device after last closure of the target communication window on the computing device and includes a recently-received message;
• receiving, from the user of the computing device, a second user request to access an earlier-received message that was received in the group chat after the last closure of the target communication window on the computing device and before arrival of the first set of messages at the computing device;
• and
• in response to the second user request, replacing the display of the first set of messages with the display of a second set of messages in the target communication window on the computing device, wherein the second set of messages were received by the computing device after the last closure of the target communication window on the computing device and includes the earlier-received message.