With more than 1.6 billion monthly users, WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app; but lately, the competition from Telegram and Snapchat are getting intensified. In a bid to cut the attrition, the company is reportedly planning to bring a new feature.
Reliable WhatsApp community forum, WABeta Info has claimed that Facebook-owned firm is testing a self-destructive message feature similar to the one we see in Snapchat. It will be called the 'Disappearing Messages'. Once marked, the message gets deleted from the chat session after a set-time expires. This will also work with group chat as well.
As of now, 'Disappearing Messages' is available on WhatApp (v2.19.275) beta application for Android mobiles only. Soon, it is expected to be released for iOS-based WhatsApp beta on the Apple App Store.
If the previous release pattern is taken as any indication, the company is likely to take a few weeks to fully test the new feature and get rid of all the bugs before making it available to the public.
In a related development, WhatsApp has revised the app support for certain iPhones and Android mobiles.
Apple iPhones with iOS 8 or older versions will no longer work from February 2020 onwards. It is the same case mobiles with Android 2.3.7 or older versions.
This is a necessary measure as WhatsApp's new feature will not work with an outdated operating system and hardware. This will apparently affect the user-experience and may lead to users to migrate to other rival messaging apps.
Also, Facebook is working on a Snapchat-like Threads app. It is still under works and for now, its features include the option to share location, speed and battery life details. It can be used to share personal photos and videos with loved ones as well. This is seen as Facebook's attempt to lure the teenage population, who mostly use private messaging apps to communicate with friends.
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