How the WhatsApp vanishing message timer is applied
It’s not entirely clear as to why would you want old chats to be automatically erased – since users already have the ability to delete older conversations at will. It could have selective application in removing older conversations, to ensure that in case of a spyware attack on your device, any older sensitive conversations would not show up to remote cyber attackers.
However, at present, the feature is only in beta – and the report stated that even in the beta cycle, a selective number of users are receiving this update right now. The feature is also not showcased prominently, which somewhat suggests that the app does not plan to put it front and centre for users to access. In fact, if you weren’t paying attention while looking at the disappearing messages section, you may not even notice it.
The feature appears as a prompt below the disappearing message timer for new chats, where you can select a time period among 24 hours, seven days or 90 days. Alongside applying the setting for new conversations, you now get a prompt in text that informs you that choosing any of the three timing settings do not affect your existing chats. It then asks you to select contacts to whom you may want the feature to be applied to.
Under this, users can select any chats that they want to be automatically removed based on the chosen time period. If you have existing chats with the chosen person that’s older than the time period you’ve selected for disappearing messages, they will get automatically deleted going forward.
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