WhatsApp now allows users to delete a message that is up to two days and 12 hours, which adds up to 60 hours. Users can now remove an accidentally sent chat even hours after the message has been sent.
In the past, the limit was 1 hour, 8 minutes, 16 seconds, and yet another odd time frame.
The company revealed this in a tweet on Monday, August 8 stating that “little over two days,” without specifying the extra 12 hours.
The company’s tweet about this feature reads:
“Rethinking your message? Now you’ll have a little over 2 days to delete your messages from your chats after you hit send.”
WhatsApp had initially introduced the ‘unsend feature’ back in 2017 with a time limit of just seven minutes but later increased it to one hour and eight minutes. Last year, it was revealed that the company might consider introducing a seven-day limit, but with this new update, it has chosen a different time frame.
Read: WhatsApp Releases Do Not Disturb API for Calls
In contrast to WhatsApp ‘unsend feature’, competitor chat app Telegram has no limit on deleting a message, so one can remove a chat years after sending it.
Apple has taken a different unexpected direction, following its introduction of the ‘unsend feature’ for iOS 16 at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June. The company reduced the limit from the previous 15 minutes to two minutes in the fourth version of the iOS 16 developer beta in July.
WhatsApp’s New Privacy Options
WhatsApp is also initiating new privacy features to its app, including blocking screenshots for “view-once messages” and the option to exit a group privately.
The privacy-centered tweaks in the app was announced on Tuesday, August 9, with the Meta-owned messaging service disclosing that the modifications are designed to give users more control over their experience on the app, as WhatsApp introduces “added layers” to protect their private communications.
WhatsApp will launch an option for users to use the app without being seen online privately, a feature described as “online presence control.”
The feature, which will be available for everyone to utilise this August, will allow WhatsApp users to select which contacts can view their online status while hiding it from others. The contacts list of who can view one’s online status has no limit, and the user can swap contacts in and out whenever the need arises. The company says that the update is not limited to the mobile app only, as desktop users will have access to the update.
Read: WhatsApp Communities A New Feature For Users to Combine Different Groups
The company is also conducting trials for screenshot blocking for the “view once” messages that disappear after being viewed a single time.
The disappearing media option was introduced about a year ago, reminding users at the time that they would not be able to know if the recipient was saving any shared photos and videos as screenshots. The feature is in the testing phase for now, but the company plans to get it out to users “soon.”
However, users should be mindful that anyone can still take a photo of their screen using another device. This should make one think twice about getting comfortable with sharing private or sensitive content on apps with disappearing messages.
The final update by WhatsApp is that the messaging service will allow users to leave groups quietly without sending out a public notice that they exited.
Although group admins will still get the exit notification, the feature will make leaving groups on the app less uncomfortable. This modification will also be available on the mobile and desktop versions of the messaging app.
Head of Product for WhatsApp, Ami Vora explained that the additions are an enhancement of the app’s “interlocking layers of protection,” with the goal of bolstering its position as a renowned encrypted messaging option.
The company has made other efforts over the years. Previously, WhatsApp closed one possible weak spot in its encrypted messaging service, including end-to-end encryption for backups stored in the cloud.
Speaking about the new features, Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said:
“We’ll keep building new ways to protect your messages and keep them as private and secure as face-to-face conversation,”
The company’s own messaging has not always been completely efficient. Recall that a confusing privacy policy update in early 2021 resulted in a backlash, prompting users to turn to competitor apps. The same update is reverberating more than a year later, and the European Commission began a formal investigation into its concerns about the app’s consumer protections earlier in 2022.
WhatsApp Unveils a Pause and Resume Feature for Audio Recording
With being the 4th most downloaded app behind TikTok, Facebook, Instagram in September 2021, WhatsApp is available in 180 countries and in 60 languages. It also generated $8.7 billion in revenue, largely from its WhatsApp for Business app.
During the 8 years that Whatsapp has operated as a Meta subsidiary, the messenger’s monthly active user base has increased from 465 million in February 2014 to over 2 billion in February 2022.