Shortly after WhatsApp rolled out its dark mode feature, the Facebook-owned instant messaging application is set to release a feature to self-destruct messages, as per a new WABetaInfo report. The feature has been around in a lot of other messaging apps.
WhatsApp has been testing the feature for private chats since 2019 but has not introduced it yet. A similar feature has been rolled out by WhatsApp in the form of Delete for Everyone using which the sender of the message can delete the message for all the members of the group. However, the Delete for Everyone feature is only available for a specific time period. Moreover, contrary to the self-destruction feature, in the Delete for Everyone feature, the sender cannot select a duration to delete the message. That option is available in private chats in the beta roll out of the feature, the reports said.
At present, WhatsApp has not given any official statement on the availability of the self-destructing feature. It is likely that the instant messaging platform will carry out thorough testing of the feature before it is released to all the users, who have been waiting to get this for a long time, reports added.
The reports also stated that WhatsApp submitted two beta updates through the Google Play Beta Program, versions 2.20.83 and 2.20.84, which has the Delete Messages feature for individual chats. While the feature is currently being developed, reports said that whenever WhatsApp decides to roll out the feature, it will allow users to delete messages for personal chats also. Reports added that once a user enables the destruct messages feature, a clock icon will appear in the message bubble, in order to allow the user to track when the message will disappear.
The reports said that currently, there is no timeline regarding the actual rollout of the feature.
The feature, according to the reports, will help users in cleaning out the chats for groups and individual messages. It will aid the user in clearing out the storage of the device. The reports also further stated that only the administrators of the groups will be able to enable or disable the feature. Once enabled, the feature settings can be changed in Contact Info or Group Settings tab.
Once the feature is available, the users will be able to decide the duration after which they want the message to destroy itself. The available time durations, according to the Beta report, will be an hour, a day, a week, a month or a year.
