14 DAY TRIAL // One of the most recent features added to WhatsApp allows for the automatic removal of messages in a conversation, and while this is something users have been really waiting for, it also comes with one major shortcoming.
This feature only allows the automatic removal of messages after seven days, without giving users any other options to choose a shorter time.
“You can send messages that disappear on WhatsApp by enabling disappearing messages. Once enabled, new messages sent in the individual or group chat will disappear after seven days. The most recent selection controls all messages in the chat. This setting won’t affect messages you previously sent or received in the chat. In an individual chat, either user can turn disappearing messages on or off. In a group chat, any group participants can turn disappearing messages on or off. However, a group admin can change group settings to allow only admins to turn disappearing messages on or off,” WhatsApp explains.
Already in testing
But according to a recent report from WABetaInfo, the Facebook-owned company is now working on adding more options in this regard.
A future WhatsApp update will allow the automatic message removal to be triggered after 24 hours, which makes a lot more sense for the majority of users.
On the other hand, WhatsApp still isn’t getting anywhere close to rival Telegram, which offers options to self-destruct messages in secret chats. But on Telegram, users can automatically delete messages as fast as one second, depending on the settings they make in each conversation.
When exactly WhatsApp is projected to roll out this new feature is something that remains to be seen, but given the testing has already started, it should take too long for the whole thing to go live. Of course, it’ll be available on both iPhone and Android.