Since late last year, WhatsApp has allowed users to automatically delete messages sent using the Disappearing Messages feature. A year after presenting this feature, WhatsApp presents its latest version.
According to WhatsApp spokesman Zafir Khan, the new feature called Default Disappearing Messages is an evolution of the feature that was launched last year.
With this feature, users can choose the duration for which messages will be automatically deleted, and enable the disappearing messages feature by default for all new individual conversations.
"What we want to try is to make conversations like face-to-face. Right now all conversations are made permanent, not only on WhatsApp but generally on the internet," Khan said in an exclusive interview with us.
"But for many conversations, that kind of permanent form is not what our users want. In real life you don't have a permanent record writer who follows all of your conversations. That's why disappearing messages is a feature we continue to focus on," he continued.
Khan said that since launching the disappearing messages feature last year, WhatsApp has received feedback from users that this feature can sometimes make conversations awkward when activated.
Users who want their messages to be deleted automatically must activate this feature one by one in all their chats and sometimes the interlocutor wonders why this feature is activated.
"Now with this setting users can save time and they can show their preferences when using the application that this is the standard of how they have a conversation," explained Khan.
The default disappearing messages feature can be activated for all new individual conversations. WhatsApp also provides a new option when creating a new group chat that allows users to enable disappearing messages by default in groups.
If a user activates the default disappearing messages feature, WhatsApp will display a notification in the chat indicating that this is the default setting they have chosen. Messages will also be deleted automatically according to the duration selected by the user.
The default disappearing messages feature will only be active for newly created chats and will not affect existing chats. This feature is also optional and users can turn it on or off at any time.
To activate the default disappearing messages feature, it's easy, namely:
Open the WhatsApp application on the phone then go to settings
Select the Account menu and then select the Privacy option
Scroll down to find the Default message timer option
Choose the desired duration from three available options: 24 hours, seven days, or 90 days
After that the disappearing messages feature will be activated by default for all your new conversations on WhatsApp
To turn this feature off, repeat the steps above and select the Off option in the duration options.