WhatsApp is expanding its testing of the View-Once disappearing messages feature to iOS, following its initial trial on Android that began last month. The feature was identified in beta version 26.19.10.72 of WhatsApp for iOS, according to WABetaInfo.
This feature allows the sender to activate a countdown timer through the “After reading” option found in the Default message timer > Message timer menu. On iOS, users can set the timer to 5 minutes, 1 hour, or 2 hours after which sent messages will vanish automatically if read by the recipient. For messages that remain unread, they will disappear after 24 hours.
Messages will be deleted automatically from the sender’s device after the specified duration. For instance, if a message is sent at 10 AM with a 5-minute timer, it will be removed from the sender’s device by 10:05 AM. If the recipient reads the message at 10:10 AM, it will disappear from their device by 10:15 AM. If unread, the message will be deleted from the recipient’s device at 10 AM the following day.
WABetaInfo noted that this feature is currently available to select WhatsApp beta users on iOS. However, it remains unclear when WhatsApp plans to roll out the feature for all users on both Android and iOS platforms.
