Whatsapp is getting ready to roll out its much anticipated disappearing messages feature. The company has already put up an FAQ page to help users with the new feature.
Whatsapp disappearing messages was first spotted while in development in October 2019. The feature will allow users to let their messages disappear from the chats after seven days. It will be available on both individual and group chats. For group chats, only the admins can turn it on or off.
Whatsapp disappearing messages will not affect your already existing messages. If a user does not open a message within the seven day period, it will disappear. The preview of the message will however, still be available on your notifications until you open the chat.
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Normally, users quote a text to reply to it. With the new feature, you can still get to do that only that and after seven days, the quoted text will still be there. This is a lot like when one replies to a message only for it to be deleted later. The quoted text still remains but if you click on it, it does not take you back to the original message.
If a disappearing message is forwarded to user who has not turned on the feature on their chat, the message will not disappear.
If a user creates a back up before a message disappears, or within the seven day period, the disappearing message will be available in the backup. However, once a user restores their chat from backup, for example when changing phones, the disappearing messages will be unavailable.
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The availability of this new feature will help many users save on space. By default, all media you receive on your phone are automatically downloaded to your photos.
Once you turn on Whatsapp disappearing messages, the media should disappear. However, most users have auto-download on in their phones which means the media will still be saved. To disable auto-download, go to Whatsapp Settings>>Data and storage usage and disable.
Whatsapp advises to use the feature with trusted individuals. This is because users can still forward or take a screenshot of the disappearing messages before they disappear. They can also copy and save the disappearing messages before the seven days elapse.
For the most part, this feature should come in handy to help you de-clutter your phone and save on space used up by numerous photos and memes. Your explicit photos are still not safe. So don’t do it.
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