- A new update for the beta version of WhatsApp sheds more light on how the highly requested edit message feature will work.
- It seems that users will have a time limit to edit their messages, and edited messages will be highlighted.
- The feature is still a work in progress and no release date has been set as of yet.
With more than 2 billion active users worldwide, WhatsApp has become the world’s most ubiquitous communication app, dwarfing rivals like Telegram, which manages more than 550 million users and even the Chinese WeChat at more than 1.24 billion.
While the Meta-owned chat app has in recent years adopted many new features that have boosted its use and popularity like the Instagram-influenced Statuses, the ability to hide your online presence, and the ability to leave a group silently, it still lacks core features that some contemporaries like Skype and Discord have. Including the highly requested edit message function.
However, the tides are turning and WhatsApp has been looking to let users edit their messages recently, and a new update from WABetaInfo seems to shed more light on how exactly this feature would work in the future.
How editing messages on WhatsApp will work
A new update being rolled out through the Google Play Beta Program reportedly shows that WhatsApp is working on adding a label that tells users if certain messages have been previously edited.
This label will sit at the bottom of a chat bubble and simply read “Edited.”
More importantly, it is now understood that WhatsApp will give you a 15-minute time limit to edit a message after it has been sent. After this time period, messages can no longer be edited. This is probably the company’s answer to allay fears about the edit message feature being used to spread false information and manipulate users.
Some of the limitations of the chat platform will also come into play with edited messages, it seems. Similar to what happens with deleted messages, WhatsApp may not be able to make sure your message is edited if the message’s recipient does not turn on their device within a certain amount of time (like a day or more).
This bodes well for the future of editing messages on the world’s most popular chat app. While a work in progress, it is still something the company is looking into and could come sooner rather than later.
However, the feature is still a work in progress and there is still no information on when it will come to the live version of WhatsApp.
