If you didn’t know yet, WhatsApp introduced late last year the disappearing messages option for one-on-one conversations. However, the only choice which is not really a choice, is for the messages to disappear after 7 days. Now it looks like the WhatsApp beta build is testing out a 90-day option on top of the previous 24-hour option that was also spotted in a previous build. It’s still something that is not sure to come out in an update but at least we know they’re testing it.
The disappearing message feature is pretty self-explanatory from its name. The messages that you send will disappear after a specific period. Currently, that period is only 7 days which is a pretty long wait for something that you want gone eventually. You might even forget that you sent a disappearing message so it might not really matter. Other messaging apps have shorter and longer options for that but for WhatsApp users, that’s the only “option” you have.
But things might be changing soon. WABetaInfo shared that in the latest WhatsApp Beta for Android v2.21.9.6, there are now actually options for your message auto-delete: 24 hours, 7 days, and 90 days. The 24-hour option was spotted in a previous build but still hasn’t been released on the stable build so we don’t know if it will come out at the same time as this possible new 90-day option. We still don’t get a seconds or minutes option though but hopefully that’s coming soon.
It’s also worth mentioning that the disappearing messages feature is something you have to activate on each chat you have. There’s no magic toggle on the app where all your one-on-one conversations will have the feature activated. And it’s also not on a message-by-message basis so you’ll have to keep toggling it on and off if you don’t mean to have the entire conversation disappear after 7 days. There’s another option for photos and videos that you can let the receiver view it once so that’s something you can try as well.
It’s also important to remember that while your messages will disappear, the recipient will still be able to save the messages and media locally and they can forward and screenshot it as well. No news yet when the 90-day or even the 24-hour option will make it to the stable build.
