WhatsApp has added new functionality to how the disappearing messages work on its app. The company first rolled out its disappearing messages last year, and now the company is rolling out a new update to the app that allows the users to automatically delete the new chats by default.
Earlier the functionality was available to the users that allowed them to make the messages 'disappear' after seven days. But those settings had to be manually enabled within specific chats. Now, WhatsApp allows users to automatically set all the chats to disappear by default. The company has also added more time options before a chat is deleted: 24 hours or 90 days.
The company on its blog post notes:
Today we are excited to provide our users with more options to control their messages and how long they stick around, with default disappearing messages and multiple durations.
WhatsApp users will now have the option to turn on disappearing messages by default for all new chats. When enabled, all new one-on-one chats you or another person start will be set to disappear at your chosen duration, and we've added a new option when creating a group chat that lets you turn it on for groups you create. This new feature is optional and does not change or delete any of your existing chats.
If you want to turn on automatic messages disappearing on WhatsApp, update your WhatsApp. Then, head over to the settings of the app → Account → Privacy, and then select Default message timer. When you choose to automatically delete messages for new chats, WhatsApp will let the receiver know (in the future when you start a new chat for the first time) that the message will get deleted after the duration you've selected.