A few days back, I reported that WhatsApp could bring Disappearing messages feature soon. Now the company has started rolling out this feature to Android and iOS starting today. Disappearing messages will be automatically deleted from the conversation after 7 days.
As I said in the previous article, Disappearing messages will work for all kinds of messages including photos and videos. If the photo or video has already been downloaded, it won’t delete the file from the gallery. The same goes for forwarding. The forwarded message will not be removed.
By default, Disappearing messages have seven days of lifespan, but the company could bring the option to alter this as per need.
“We’re starting with 7 days because we think it offers peace of mind that conversations aren’t permanent, while remaining practical so you don’t forget what you were chatting about,” says a WhatsApp spokesperson. “The shopping list or store address you received a few days ago will be there while you need it, and then disappear after you don’t.”
If you want to keep the message, you can copy it somewhere else before it disappears. Taking a screenshot also works.
The company claims that end-to-end encryption is the reason why this feature took so long to be available. The company wanted to retain the e2e capabilities.
Once the feature is available, you will see a new option in the contact section of each friend in WhatsApp. WhatsApp has also confirmed that the feature will not be turned on by default. If you wish to use it, you can turn it on manually for a chat.
To enable the Disappearing Messages feature for a contact, you need to first open the conversation with the contact in WhatsApp app. Then tap on contact’s name at the top and you will the option saying “Disappearing messages”. Tap Toggle to enable it. If prompted, tap CONTINUE. Follow same steps to disable Disappearing Messages option.
