WhatsApp Extends Time Limit for Deleting Sent Messages to Over an Hour

[MacRumors]

WhatsApp has quietly extended the time window in which users can delete a message they already sent to a person or group in the latest version of the popular messaging app.

First noticed by WABetaInfo and reported by The Verge, the change in v2.18.31 means users now have up to one hour, eight minutes, and 16 seconds to "delete for everyone" any message already sent over the platform, rather than the previous time limit of up to seven minutes.

It's not clear what prompted the specific limit change (other than the value being equal to 4096 seconds, or 2^12) and there's no mention of it in WhatsApp's support pages. Nevertheless, users now have a much longer time period in which to delete individual messages or entire chat threads either before or after they're read.

A new WhatsApp for iOS update (2.18.31) is available on AppStore.It is a bug fixes update, but it has the new "Delete for everyone" limit, that's 1 hour, 8 minutes and 16 seconds. - WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) March 8, 2018

The "delete for everyone" option was introduced last year, but WhatsApp still lacks a self-destructing message feature like the one found in Telegram, where users can set a countdown on a message in the device-specific secret chat mode. As soon as the time runs out, the message disappears from both devices.

Article Link: WhatsApp Extends Time Limit for Deleting Sent Messages to Over an Hour

 

[lars666]

1 hour, 8 minutes and 16 seconds – oddly specific time limit indeed. Sounds like kind of LOST stuff ...

 

[Jesse Waugh]

That's good - I can't stand not being able to delete messages in Facebook Messenger and other apps like Twitter.

 

[haruhiko]

Any extension is welcomed.

 

[cogitodexter]

Good for those people who use such platforms for, ahem, intimate liaisons. They can delete all the evidence!

 

[alphaod]

The lesson here kids: think before you speak.

 

[cjbryce]

1 hour, 8 minutes and 16 seconds – oddly specific time limit indeed. Sounds like kind of LOST stuff ...

4096 (4KB)

 

[DaveTheRave]

I like how Whatsapp does groups, with administrators and public shareable links. I’d love to see iMessage get something like that.

 

[B4U]

Wait, somebody actually tested with 1 hour, 8 minutes and 17 seconds to ensure it fails?
Gotta love that kind of job...

 

[User008]

1 hour, 8 minutes and 16 seconds – oddly specific time limit indeed. Sounds like kind of LOST stuff ...

Not odd at all, it’s 4,096 seconds. RTFA next time.

 

[BigMcGuire]

The lesson here kids: think before you speak.

Don't have to now! Just so long as the person I'm talking to doesn't check their phone for an hour or before I delete it

I absolutely hate WhatsApp - can't talk fast on it (with keyboard) - it's designed for mobile only. Compresses the **** out of your photos. But family loves it and uses it.

 

[martin2345uk]

I wish whatsapp would sort out rich notifications on iOS as well!!!!

 

[CarpalMac]

But - does it delete the notification with the preview of the message? I suspect not, as that is outside of the app.

As a Telegram user, it makes me laugh every time I read an article crowing about the latest Whatsapp developments. It's like briefly stepping back in time, by 2 years.

 

[DaveTheRave]

As a Telegram user, it makes me laugh every time I read an article crowing about the latest Whatsapp developments. It's like briefly stepping back in time, by 2 years.

WhatsApp uses the Signal protocol for automatic end-to-end encryption, which many consider to be the gold standard. I don’t think Telegram can make that claim.