WhatsApp has announced that the much-anticipated vanishing chat technology would be added to its disappearing messages feature in the near future. The ability to switch on vanishing messages for all new chats will be available to WhatsApp users soon. This would mean that the entire chat will disappear automatically after a specified period of time, which can be 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days.
According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a Facebook post unveiling the new vanishing messages option on WhatsApp, “not all communications need to linger around forever.”
The time limit for vanishing messages was previously 24 hours, but WhatsApp has now extended the time limit to 48 hours and added two more choices to the usual disappearing messages. According to the firm, these “ephemeral” conversations would likewise be removed from WhatsApp servers.
You will not be affected by turning on vanishing messages for all one-on-one chats if you already have messages or chats in progress. A similar way, the option to send vanishing messages to everyone in the chat will not interfere with ongoing group chats; nevertheless, you may send disappearing messages to the whole group at any moment by turning disappearing messages on in the group settings. However, the group’s administrator can restrict the powers of turning on the function to just admins in order to prevent misuse. New group conversations, on the other hand, can be configured to be deleted using the new feature.
After you have enabled vanishing messages for all of your new conversations, a notification informing you that the functionality has been enabled will display within the chat window itself. As an added precaution, the warning will state that vanishing messages are enabled by default, so that your contact does not believe you were particularly using the function for them.
The vanishing messages function appears to be a useful tool that would delete all communications when their purpose has been fulfilled, however WhatsApp cautions that it should only be used with trustworthy friends. This is due to the fact that the feature contains certain flaws. In the case of a fading message, if you send it to another conversation, the message will not be deleted. You may also snap a screenshot of the discussion and store it to your phone’s gallery, which will allow you to review it later. It is also possible to take a picture of the conversation screen with a camera or with a separate smartphone.
In addition to these loopholes, there are several more restrictions in place. As stated by WhatsApp, if you do not enter a chat containing vanishing messages within a 24-hour, 7-day, or 90-day time frame, the messages will vanish from your conversation but will remain visible in your notifications until you join the conversation. A quotation in response to a fading message will keep the message in the chat bubble as long as the quote is used. Any backups of fading messages will also save the messages that were previously backed up.
