“This should make it easy for admins to manage old messages and chats considering those take up space on the device as well as increase the size of the online backups”
WhatsApp is tipped to be testing a new ‘Disappearing Messages’ feature that as the name suggests, will automatically remove messages after a certain amount of time. It was initially spotted in the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.19.275 update and was expected to be available for both group chat and individual chats too. In the latest Android beta V2.19.348, WhatsApp has made changes to the feature, including new time options and the feature itself has been renamed to Delete messages, according to trusted app tracker WABetaInfo. The name change is also being reflected in the WhatsApp beta for iOS 2.20.10.23/24 update too. However, it isn’t available just yet.
Now, digging deep into the WhatsApp app, it looks like the social media giant has changed its plans, and this should only work for groups and won’t be available for private chats to delete messages. This should make it easy for admins to manage old messages and conversations. Considering that WhatsApp group exchanges take up space on the device as well as increase the size of the online backups, it only makes sense to delete old messages and clear some storage. With this feature, admins can now select a specific duration for messages to live in the group chat, and once it is crossed, they are automatically deleted. Unfortunately, there’s nothing regarding the Dark Theme yet, and we still don’t have any details regarding its general availability.
Separately, WhatsApp will be ending support for all Android handsets running on Android 2.3.7 operating system and iPhones running on iOS 8. It will stop running on all Windows phones from December 31st. This means users who are using these handsets will have no other choice but to upgrade the phones. WhatsApp FAQ section also emphasised that the accounts on these older versions of Android and iOS operating systems will lapse after the deadline.
