WhatsApp Just Made It a Lot Harder to Leak Your Private Chats
The next time you open your inbox on WhatsApp, your messages might already be gone. Meta is working on new timer options for disappearing messages, discovered in the latest Android beta version. These updates are expected to roll out to all users soon.
WhatsApp’s disappearing messages feature isn’t new. It’s been around for years to help users protect sensitive chats with added privacy and security. Until now, the available timers included 24 hours, 7 days, and 90 days, allowing users to choose when messages should automatically be deleted. While the feature is useful, it lacks flexibility for shorter timeframes. But this is something WhatsApp is finally addressing.
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New Timers for WhatsApp Disappearing Messages
In Android beta version 2.25.24.18, WhatsApp has added two new timer options: 12 hours and 1 hour. The 12-hour setting offers a practical balance between convenience and privacy, ideal for short-term planning or day-part messaging. The 1-hour option is designed for situations where privacy is critical, though its tight window may lead to missed messages.
WhatsApp Will Remind You Before Messages Disappear
As with other timers, the countdown begins once a message is sent and not when it’s read. This increases the chance of messages being missed, which can be useful when sharing sensitive or time-critical information. It’s similar to a self-destructing message, though senders still have the option to delete messages manually before the timer expires.
To help with this, WhatsApp is reportedly adding a reminder tool for the 1-hour option that alerts recipients before a message disappears. This gives users a final chance to view unread messages before they vanish.
Like existing disappearing messages, the new timers will likely benefit from end-to-end encryption. Meta will not have access to these messages once they appear or after they are deleted.
While the new timers aren’t visible to all beta testers yet, their presence suggests they’ll be included in the final release and made available to the public, including on iOS for iPhones and iPads.
WhatsApp has been steadily expanding its chat features, including a chat reminder, voicemail-like support, and a chat summary tool that highlights key points without needing to scroll through long unread threads. Most of these features are still in testing and expected to launch soon.
What do you think of the new disappearing message timers? Would you use them in your chats? Let us know in the comments
Source: WABetaInfo
