WhatsApp’s had a bit of an odd year, what with changes to its terms and conditions causing a stir among privacy advocates.
But while many balked at the company’s decision to share user data with parent company Facebook, the latest rumours (via AndroidAuthority) should be greeted more positively by WhatsApp users.
A video posted to WABetaInfo’s Twitter account, a source of early WhatsApp news, appears to show a new feature in the WhatsApp 2.17.1.869 beta build for iOS that will allow users to edit, and even delete sent messages.
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If the video is legitimate, users will be able to tap and hold a sent message to bring up menu options, which include “revoke” – allowing messages to be removed from the conversation.
https://twitter.com/statuses/809150861268152321
Messages in the video appear with the two blue ticks, indicating they have been read by the other person in the conversation, suggetsing the “revoke” feature can even be used on read messages.
Using “revoke” turns the conversation entry in question into a new message that simply reads “Sender revoked the message”.
Another tweet from the WABetaInfo account also seems to reveal WhatsApp is working on an edit option, which, again, looks to be activated by tapping and holding a message.
The tweet indicates the feature is disabled by default in the beta build, and the edit option is only shown in an image from the iOS version of the app.
https://twitter.com/statuses/809468892166885376
Still, if WhatsApp is planning to launch the new features, it’s likely they will find their way to Android as well as iOS – though none of this information has been confirmed by the company just yet.
Since launching in 2009, WhatsApp has never introduced any editing or deleting options for sent messages.
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Let us know if you’d like to see these new features launch in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
