WhatsApp Delete Messages feature spotted, will help in cleaning group chats

• Delete Messages feature will work as a cleaning tool for group chats.
• Only group admins will be able to enable and disable this feature.
• The Delete Messages feature is currently being tested in the beta version.

While WhatsApp’s new update never brought out the self-destructing messages to the platform, a new Delete Messages feature was spotted. Now, it has been revealed that this feature is now being developed as a ‘cleaning tool’ for group chats.

The feature was first spotted earlier this month in WhatsApp beta for Android 2.19.275 version. Now, as per a WaBetaInfo report, the feature will actually be used as a cleaning tool for group chats. The feature will only be available to the group admins who will be able to enable or disable it for a group.

How does this work

Groups usually have several participants and the number of messages per day are very high. Over a period of time, these messages accumulate and take up a lot of storage on your device. With the new delete messages feature, group admins will be able to decide how long a message should last. After this period, the message will automatically be deleted for all participants.

In the WhatsApp beta for iOS 2.20.10.23/24, the delete messages feature has a time duration ranging from one hour to one year. We expect the time duration to remain the same in the stable version as well.

How to save a message

While it’s not clear if WhatsApp will introduce a new feature to protect specific messages from getting deleted, you can use the ‘Star Message’ feature to save messages at present. These messages are grouped in the ‘Starred Messages’ section.

Currently, the ‘Delete Messages’ feature is limited to the beta version of WhatsApp. We expect the feature to be available for Android and iOS users in the coming weeks.


See also:

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