WhatsApp might be finally bringing in the feature that many have wanted for long. The Facebook-owned messaging service is reportedly testing an ‘unsend’ feature that lets users recall embarrassing or wrongfully sent texts. The ‘Delete for everyone’ feature enables users to wipe out messages before their contacts have read them. WhatsApp rivals including Telegram, WeChat and Viber already sport a similar feature, and it is high time that the leading IM service had it too.
WhatsApp has begun testing the feature on both Android and iOS devices, according to a WABetaInfo leak. The dedicated recall server is now working and successfully deleting messages. The service will be remotely enabled at a later time.
The Recall feature will be remotely enabled in 2.17.30+.
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) June 5, 2017
Further leaks revealed that recalled texts will also disappear from the Notification Center – both on Android and iOS phones. This essentially means that the receiver will have no trace of the sender’s message, except for the notification that it was deleted.
The Unsend function is expected to work on all kinds of messages, including text, photos, videos, GIFs, and files. We don’t know the exact date on which it is rolling out but is likely to be “available soon” as per WABetaInfo. Speculations about this feature have been rife for a while now. Last month, a ‘Delete for Everyone’ feature reportedly appeared in the beta version of the WhatsApp app on Windows.
And prior to that, in June, a leaked WhatsApp code revealed that the messaging giant was testing the feature. “The Recall feature will be remotely enabled in 2.17.30+,” WABetaInfo had tweeted. While that is something WhatsApp will have to explain, its 1 billion-plus users are just waiting to sample the new feature.
