Messaging platform WhatsApp has added a new and important feature that many trigger-happy fingers have been waiting for — the ability to delete and revoke messages after they are sent.
The new feature will allow the user to delete a wrongly sent message up to seven minutes after pressing the send button. This will erase them permanently and without a trace from conversations or group chats unless of course someone already took a screenshot.
To delete a message, the user must open the WhatsApp conversation containing the message. Tapping and holding down that message will prompt a pop-up menu, which will allow the user to select all the messages it wants to delete. Tap delete, then "delete for everyone." A "delete for me" option is also available if a user only wants to delete his copy of a message.
Successfully deleted messages will be replaced by the phrase, "This message was deleted," in the conversation. If seen, it means either the user or someone in the chat group previously erased a message.
This update can be very useful when a user sends a message to the wrong person or group chat, or if the message itself contains mistakes.
WhatsApp, however, clarified that deleting a message doesn't mean it was not read by the person or group it was sent to. Seven minutes is a long time for a message to go unread in this day and age.
A note to users, only those using the latest WhatsApp version will be able to use this feature. Meaning, if there is at least one person in the group chat that is using an old version, it will not work. Also, there is no way to know whether the message was deleted for everyone, as there is no notification if it fails.
This new feature will be gradually rolled out to the over one billion WhatsApp users worldwide this week.
