WhatsApp update lets you delete images and videos on other people's phones - The Independent
A new WhatsApp update will allow users to delete an image, video or gif on someone else’s phone after sending it to them.
The Expiring Media feature, first spotted by the website WaBetaInfo, causes media to disappear after being viewed within a chat.
In order to enable the feature, the sender needs to select a “view once” button when sending the image, video or gif.
When it appears on the recipients phone, it is only visible while they are in the chat.
When they go to leave the chat, a message appears that states: “This media will disappear once you leave this chat.”
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If they return to the chat, a bubble pops up that says: “View once photo expired.”
The feature is still under development as part of the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.20.2011 version of the messaging app.
It is not yet clear when the public release date will be, though new features are usually tested on a limited scale for several months before rolling out to all users.
With more than 2 billion monthly active users globally, WhatsApp is by far the most popular messaging app in the world.
It means introducing a new feature or update to the Facebook-owned app can be time-consuming and risky if bugs are not ironed out effectively.
Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network
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Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network
Facebook is born
On 4 Feb, 2004, 19-year-old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched a website called 'TheFacebook' from his dorm. Within 24 hours the college social network had more than 1,000 users
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Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network
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Within one week of launching, fellow Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. It would be four years later when the resulting lawsuit was finally settled
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Open for business
The social network finally opened it platform to everyone on 26 September, 2006. The move proved the catalyst in supercharging the site's already explosive growth
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Billion-dollar bid
Yahoo offered $1 billion to buy Facebook in September 2006 but Zuckerberg turned it down. 'I don’t know what I could do with the money,' Zuckerberg reportedly said. 'I’d just start another social networking site'
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In the money
In September 2009, almost five years since the site launched, Facebook turned a profit for the first time
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Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network
Taking the lead
Facebook overtook MySpace in 2010 to become the world’s most popular social network
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Taking on the tech giants
In 2011, Google launched its own social network that it hoped would knock Facebook from its perch. Despite its initial success, Google+ ultimately failed and will be shut down completely in 2019
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Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network
Facebook goes public
On 18 May, 2012, Facebook went public. The initial public offering raised $16 billion – the third largest in US history
Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network
Gobbling up the competition
Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for $1 billion, consolidating its position as the world's leading social network
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Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network
One billion users
On 4 October, 2012, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had hit 1 billion users. 'If you’re reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honour of serving you,' he wrote in a blog post
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Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network
Expanding its empire
In February 2014 Facebook acquired the messaging app WhatsApp for $19.3 billion
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Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network
Two billion users
In June 2017, Facebook passed the 2 billion user milestone
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Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network
Privacy scandal
On 17 March 2018, news broke that UK firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested data from around 87 million Facebook users for the purpose of political profiling in the build up to the 2016 US presidential elections
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Unhappy users
A study found that people are happier when they don’t use Facebook, adding to mounting evidence surrounding the impact social media has on mental health
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Such updates are necessary, however, to keep WhatsApp ahead – or at least level – with its competition.
Disappearing messages are already supported by other messaging apps, having been pioneered by Snapchat in 2011.
Instagram, which is also owned by Facebook, also allows users to send disappearing messages through direct messages on its platform.
These features are developed in such a way that users are unable to take a screenshot of the media in order to save the image to their phone or device.
WhatsApp typically does not comment on unreleased features but The Independent has reached out to see when a release date may be expected for the Expiring Media feature.
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