Facebook-owned WhatsApp might just bring in a cool new feature for its users soon that will be a considerable deviation from the very nature of the chat app.
Used widely as a message bank that at some point can serve as a reminder to any user, WhatsApp might soon change this with something like ‘temporary messages’.
The new feature will reportedly delete a particular message automatically after a stipulated time as set by the sender of the message. Reports also mention that the feature is already present in the app but is disabled by default.The option for self-destructing WhatsApp messages was discovered in two Android beta versions of WhatsApp - 2.20.83 and 2.20.84.
The option allows the sender to create self-destructing messages in private chats while being able to choose the expiry time of the messages between one hour, one day, one week, one month or even one year.
The presence of such an option can be taken as an indication that WhatsApp developers are indeed considering it an option to roll out the feature in the stable version of WhatsApp. It is, however, yet unknown as to when and how the feature will be rolled out.
A report suggests that the self-destructing messages will initially be available for group chats and will be regulated by the group’s administrators. Once enabled, the feature can be toggled on or off in Group Settings or Contact Info and the required time limit can also be set for the same.
The presence of the new feature was detected just after WhatsApp introduced the Dark Mode feature to its users earlier this month. If you would like to enable it on your phone, click here.