WhatsApp Auto-Delete Feature: In today’s digital world, messages often stay forever, even when we don’t want them to. WhatsApp is working on a new privacy feature to fix this, making it a faster and more secure way to send sensitive messages. The feature, called “After reading,” was spotted in the latest Android beta by WABetaInfo. Once turned on, a message will disappear soon after the receiver reads it.
Currently, Meta-owned platform WhatsApp allows disappearing messages with timers of 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days. These options are useful for regular chats but not ideal for sharing sensitive details like one-time passwords (OTPs), verification codes or other such confidential information.
To solve this issue for users who often share confidential information, WhatsApp will reportedly start a 15-minute timer as soon as a message is opened. After that, the message will be deleted from both the sender’s and the receiver’s chats. If the message is not opened, it will remain available for up to 24 hours before disappearing automatically. The feature was spotted in WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.26.12.2.
However, it is still under development and not yet available even for beta testers. It is important to note that the new “After reading” feature on WhatsApp will work even if read receipts are turned off. Users will reportedly have the flexibility to turn on the feature on either a per-chat basis or across all conversations.
The “After reading” new feature is an upgrade to WhatsApp’s existing View Once option. This option lets users send photos, videos, and voice notes that can be opened only once before they disappear. Beyond these updates, Meta-owned platform WhatsApp has introduced a new message translation feature to help its three billion users talk across language barriers.
The feature is rolling out on both iOS and Android in all 180 countries. Users just need to keep their WhatsApp updated to access it. With this new feature, users can translate messages directly inside the app, making conversations smoother and more meaningful even if people speak different languages. The translate tool is designed to address the needs of WhatsApp’s linguistically diverse audience. The WhatsApp Message Translation feature works across one-on-one chats, group conversations, and even on WhatsApp Channels.
