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- WhatsApp is testing an automatically deleting message feature called “disappearing messages.”
- The feature allows users to choose to have their messages self-destruct seven days after being sent or received.
- A WhatsApp spokesperson told Business Insider that the company hopes to release disappearing messages around the world soon.
- Users will be able to turn disappearing messages on or off for each individual conversation.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
WhatsApp has officially started testing its disappearing messages feature.
As WABetaInfo discovered, an FAQ page on WhatsApp’s website titled “About Disappearing Messages” says that once the feature is enabled, both sent and received messages will be deleted after seven days.
You can activate and deactivate this option for individual conversations or for group conversations if you are an administrator.
A WhatsApp spokeswoman confirmed to Business Insider that a small number of users are testing the feature, which the encrypted messaging service hopes to roll out globally soon.
In some circumstances, specific messages will not disappear completely, according to the WhatsApp FAQ. If you reply to a message that needs to disappear, the quoted version of that message will remain after the seven-day limit. The same applies to forwarded messages.
WABetaInfo first noticed that WhatsApp was messing with the feature last year, when WhatsApp began testing group messages capable of auto-deleting after increments of between five seconds and an hour.
The feature is present in many other messaging services, including encrypted messaging rivals Telegram and Signal. Both services offer much shorter timers, giving users more precise control over when their messages self-destruct.
At the time, WhatsApp experimenting with disappearing messages was seen as another instance where Facebook, the owner of WhatsApp, was considering cloning a feature popularized by Snapchat. Facebook has come under fire for this multiple times in the past, including by Rep. Pramila Jayapal during an antitrust hearing in July.
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