WhatsApp has started testing a new update for its Messaging service with the main focus set on revising its ‘Delete for everyone’ feature. The ‘Delete for everyone’ was introduced last year allowing users to delete a message in a conversation in under seven minutes. The latest update brings a new set of rules to the feature making it even more reliable when using the messaging client.
WABetaInfo reports that the latest WhatsApp update now adds a recipient limit feature for ‘Delete for everyone’ which checks whether the recipient of the message receives a delete request from the sender within a certain time limit, only after which will the message be deleted from both party’s threads. Once the update rolls out, a senders message won’t be deleted for everyone if the recipient hasn’t received a revoke request in under 13 hours, 8 minutes, and 16 seconds after the message was sent.
What this means is that if you send a message to someone but want to delete it, the message won’t be deleted even after you select ‘Delete for Everyone’ until the receiver gets a revoke request in the specified time. There might be occasions when a recipient won’t be prompted for a request and this can happen when their phone is switched off or when the cellular data is turned off.
Since the feature is currently in testing phase, it’s to be noted that it might take a significant time till the update is rolled out to all devices. The new Recipient limit feature is a move to ensure modified versions of WhatsApp no longer support deleting older messages by tweaking with time settings locally on the phone.
For users of the regular versions of WhatsApp, the Recipient limit remains the same in terms of the time limit and can be revoked when done under 1 hour 8 minutes and 16 seconds of the message being sent.