According to reports, WhatsApp for Android beta version 2.22.410 had references to an update for the ‘Delete for Everyone functionality.
WhatsApp is apparently planning on expanding the ‘Delete for Everyone feature’ time restriction from one hour, eight minutes, and 16 seconds to two days and 12 hours. The plugin would allow users to remove incorrectly transmitted messages over a longer period of time. Separately, a screenshot of the WhatsApp Communities feature has been released. Group admins would be able to add and administer their many WhatsApp groups from a single location with this feature. It would also allow administrators to send out crucial announcements to all members at the same time.
According to WhatsApp beta tracker WABetaInfo, WhatsApp for Android beta version 2.22.410 contained references suggesting the extension of the ‘Delete for Everyone’ time limit to two days and 12 hours. To put it another way, users will have two and a half days to permanently erase a communication.
The message will be replaced with a notification that says “This message was deleted” once it is deleted using the feature.
This isn’t the first time WhatsApp has been rumoured to be working on an extension for the ‘Delete for Everyone’ feature. The instant messaging service was rumored to be aiming to expand its time restriction to more than seven days in November of last year.
According to WABetaInfo, the extension of more than seven days appears to be unjust, as most users would not wish to erase a message received more than a week ago. However, it is unclear whether WhatsApp would make the new time limit permanent or make changes to it before making it public.
In 2018, WhatsApp implemented the existing one-hour duration limit. Initially, the feature to remove messages for everyone in the conversation had a seven-minute time restriction.
Even beta testers have yet to see the upgrade. Similarly, there is no precise schedule for when it will come.
WABetaInfo has discovered an introductory screen for WhatsApp Communities in WhatsApp for Android beta version 2.22.4.9, in addition to the time limit extension. The interface would simply instruct consumers on how to use the new service.
WhatsApp Communities, as seen in a screenshot of the introduction page given by WABetaInfo, would allow group managers to consolidate the groups they oversee into one location for easy access. The Community area will also assist group administrators in sending out fresh announcements to all members of their groups at the same time.
WhatsApp has not stated when Communities would be available to end-users. In addition, the beta version in question makes no public references to the change.
WABetaInfo has also tweeted a couple of photographs that purport to demonstrate how WhatsApp users on Android and iPhone will be able to react to messages in the future. End-to-end encryption is said to protect the reactions, just as it is for the texts posted on the app.
Details on when we’ll be able to view the reactions in a public WhatsApp release have yet to be published. If we look at some recent reports, the feature has been in testing.
