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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Chiara Fiorillo

WhatsApp prepares for major update that will affect users' 'disappearing messages'

WhatsApp is planning to revamp its Disappearing Messages section, making it easier for users to navigate.

The feature allows you to set a time frame for texts to automatically disappear so that conversations you want to delete will disappear.

The changes for the section are now rolling out for some WhatsApp beta Android 2.22.24.9 versions, according to WABetaInfo.

A blog post on the website explains the redesigned section has not been released to all beta testers so if it is not available for your account yet, you should wait for a future update.

To find out if the redesign is already available for your WhatsApp account, you should open WhatsApp Settings, click Privacy and then Disappearing Messages.

The new section is available only for some WhatsApp Beta users (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The new settings page reads: "For added privacy, new messages will disappear for everyone from the chat after the duration you select.

"Chat participants will see you turned this on."

There is a section called 'Set for your account' which allows users to choose a default message time for all new chats, as well as another section called 'Set for your current chats' which addresses new messages in existing conversations.

The new interface is being tested in WhatsApp Beta and is not available for general users yet.

The current interface available to users (WhatsApp)
This new interface is available to some Beta users (WhatsApp)

The current interface available to users reads: "For more privacy and storage, all new messages will disappear from this chat for everyone after the selected duration.

"Anyone in the chat can change this setting."

If you are keen to try new features before the general public, you can download WhatsApp Beta on your Android by searching it in Google Play.

You can then scroll down the page and click on "Become a Beta Tester".

It is also possible to join WhatsApp Beta from iPhone but downloading it from iOS has limited capacity and is more difficult than Android.

If you want to activate Disappearing Messages on your account, you can do so in your settings.

You can choose a time period for messages to vanish, either 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days.

Once the feature is turned on, a message will appear in the chat to confirm it has been activated.

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