WhatsApp issues warning about a big upcoming change

A WhatsApp update is on its way.

Some of your texts may now be deleted automatically

You may notice that some chats will start to disappear after a certain period of time.

Pay attention! WhatsApp issued warning about a big upcoming change in the app, after a recent update. Some of your texts may now be deleted automatically, so you may notice that some chats will start disappearing after a certain amount of time.

According to The Sun, this is tied to a new privacy feature. For years, WhatsApp messages were permanent — even if you deleted them, everyone else could still see them. WhatsApp then allowed the messages to be removed after a certain period of time, deleting them for you and all recipients.

WhatsApp launched this new feature earlier this year

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This is important, because it means that some messages you receive won’t stick around. And if you activate this feature, your own messages will also disappear. It’s an important privacy feature that you should consider turning on. And if you don’t turn it on, keep in mind that messages sent to you may still be deleted.

According to data from early 2020, WhatsApp is the leader in instant messaging in most of the world, exceeding two billion users, surpassing other applications such as Facebook Messenger or Telegram, among others. The app was launched in 2009, mainly for iOS, and a year later for Android, and finally for Windows. It has became massively popular since 2012.

How to set your WhatsApp messages to auto delete

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How to set your messages to automatically disappear on WhatsApp? Open the app, then go to Settings > Account > Privacy. Look for Disappearing Messages, and then set the switch to the On position. Then choose a time period for the messages to disappear: 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days.

A message will appear in the chat confirming that the Disappear Messages feature has been activated. To enable it on an existing chat, you must first archive it and then unarchive it. Also, you can enable the disappearance of messages in specific chats by tapping on the individual settings of a WhatsApp contact.

Disappearing message warning

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The system is not infallible, of course. If someone takes a screenshot or records your chat, there is no way to remove that content from their phone using an official WhatsApp feature. As always, the best way to keep embarrassing or unfortunate content off the internet is to not post it in the first place.

But if you’re particularly worried, using Disappearing Messages is a great system. Remember: Only messages sent after you turn on Disappearing Messages will be deleted. It won’t go back in time and erase old missives for you.

Some WhatsApp messages will not be deleted

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Messages will also not be deleted in other chats they have been forwarded to. And messages that disappear will still be stored in a recipient’s backup, but will be deleted when the user restores from backup.

Message quotes can also cause text to remain in a chat, even though the original message has been deleted. If you want to try the new WhatsApp features now, consider getting the beta version. To download it, you need to go to Google Play on your Android and search for WhatsApp.