WhatsApp delete sent messages feature gets big update for iPhones, Androids

Meta owned instant messaging app WhatsApp is likely to extend the time limit for deleting a sent message. The app is rolling out a new beta update version 2.22.4.10 in which a new time limit will be introduced within which you can delete messages for everyone. According to the WhatsApp development tracker WABetainfo, WhatsApp could soon be extending the time limit to delete sent messages up to 2 days and 12 hours, or 36 hours. This will give users a lot more time to delete sent messages on various personal and group chats.

As of now, WhatsApp delete sent messages feature time limit is 1 hour, 8 minutes, 16 seconds. Once a message is deleted, WhatsApp shows a “This message was deleted” card in its place. Notably, any message sent on WhatsApp can only be deleted for everyone for a fixed amount of time. Once the limit is passed, users can no longer delete messages for all parties. 

This is not the first time WhatsApp has altered the time limit to delete a message. When the delete sent messages for all parties feature was introduced, the time limit was a mere seven minutes, after which users could not delete the messages for all parties. The time limit was later extended to 1 hour. Some recent reports speculated that the messaging app is planning to extend the time limit to delete sent messages up to 7 days, however that plan was seemingly dropped. It is yet to be confirmed if the 2 day 12 hour limit sticks or some more changes to the limit will be seen.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp will also be introducing emoji reaction features allowing users to react to the messages received with emojis in its upcoming update. This feature is already available on Facebook and Messenger. This new feature will be added for both iOS and Android users. As per the report, WhatsApp users will see a row of emoji just above the message upon clicking on it. However, it's still unclear whether users will need to long-press on a message or there will be a dedicated button to add a reaction.