They say that they brought some new search features to mobile, though I would prefer if they fixed their search on desktop (or in general) first, as it only returns results from recent messages.
Until sometime in 2016/2017 it was possible to look for specific things at whatever time (e.g. 2011) and now even things from <3y ago don't return anything.
On iOS I see a search bar at the top of the home screen. Type in it and it searches contacts, but there's a "search in messages" item you can tap and it shows matching chats and messages.
Until sometime in 2016/2017 it was possible to look for specific things at whatever time (e.g. 2011) and now even things from <3y ago don't return anything.