With digital advances creating countless ways and platforms for us to communicate with one another, and many of us chatting on our phones frequently throughout the day, it’s likely that sooner or later you’ll send a message you wish you hadn’t. Most of us know (and hate!) the feeling of dread you get immediately after you’ve clicked send on an embarrassing message, knowing there’s nothing you can do but accept the consequences.
But what if there was something you could do as damage control? If you use WhatsApp and can relate to what we’re talking about, then you’ll be relieved to hear about the Facebook-owned messaging app’s latest announcement.
They have finally listened to user demands and announced they are releasing a feature which allows users to ‘un-send’ messages, deleting items for all recipients – even after they’ve been read.
After you’ve installed the update, you will be able to “delete messages for everyone” in a chat within seven minutes of the initial message being sent – as if by magic! Well actually, the receiver will receive a notification to say “this message was deleted” in place of the original message, so it’s not all smoke and mirrors but definitely still incredible useful when you’re in a tight spot.
Oh, and there is another catch in that both users require the latest version of WhatsApp on iOS or Android for the delete message function to work, so just hope who you’re chatting with is organized and keeps their apps up to date.
To make sure you use the feature correctly, be aware of these useful points:
– Ensure you have the latest version of WhatsApp installed on your mobile
– Delete the message within seven minutes of sending
– To delete, hold the message and press the delete icon at the top of the screen
– Hit ‘delete for everyone’
– Be aware everyone in the chat will see ‘this message was deleted’