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WhatsApp already has a disappearing messages option, but its options are not as expansive as its rivals. A recent report reveals that the Facebook-owned messaging app is going to add a 24-hour setting that is currently being tested in beta.
WhatsApp future update may expand disappearing messages feature
Disappearing messages has become one of the useful features in popular messaging apps. WhatsApp introduced this function in 2019, but since then, it has only one option that allows users to set their texts to self-destruct in seven days after receiving them.
WABetaInfo has provided new evidence, in the form of a screenshot from an iOS device, that WhatsApp is planning to improve the disappearing messages feature by adding a 24 hours option. The source first reported that this improvement has been in the works in early March, and updated information posted last April 25 suggested it is still “under development.”
The same report also clarifies that the rumored 24 hours option will not replace the currently available seven days setting on WhatsApp. However, it is still not as extensive as the options available on other messaging apps like Signal. The privacy-focused app currently allows its users to make messages disappear after 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 6 hours, 12 hours, 1 day, and 1 week.
Meanwhile, it is still unclear when WhatsApp will officially release the update with the improved disappearing messages options. But WABetaInfo expects it to launch for iOS, Android, web, and desktop users.
WhatsApp’s new policy goes into effect on May 15
This is also a good time to remind WhatsApp users that the app’s controversial policy update is slated to take effect very soon. It can be recalled that a change in its privacy policy has caused concerns on user data collection and led many to move to other messaging apps.
WhatsApp has since clarified that it is not changing its end-to-end encryption service for private and group messages. But the data collection covers conversations with business accounts for marketing purposes, including Facebook advertisements. The policy will be enforced starting May 15. By then, users who will not agree to the new terms will practically lose access to some basic WhatsApp services, such as reading or sending messages.
