Yesterday, WhatsApp released a FAQ page detailing how their disappearing messages would work. While people who prefer the Facebook-owned messaging platform were excited about this new feature, it has turned out to be disappointing compared to the other ‘self-destructing’ messages feature other rival messaging apps already have.
first off, disappearing Messages for WhatsApp is a fixed and non-customizable feature, this means unlike rival Telegram which offers customizable expiration times that range between a few seconds to a week, WhatsApp users can only turn the option on or off.
ALSO READ: WhatsApp Introduces Disappearing Messages
Another downside to Disappearing Messages is that even after the message is deleted after one week which is the only option, by the way, the recipient’s phone retains the media sent via Disappearing Messages.
The FAQ page also warns that quoting a self-deleting message in response means that the message ‘might’ remain in a chat after the seven days. This beats the whole purpose of the feature.
Also, Disappearing Messages can be forwarded to another WhatsApp chat with the disappearing Messages option disabled and here will not delete themselves after seven days.
The whole point of disappearing messages is disappearing messages, advisably, users who really want this feature should choose alternatives. The feature is just now rolling out to more users.
