In an age in which so much of our communication occurs digitally, WhatsApp, one of the most widely used apps on the planet, is trying to do its part to save you from making a total ass of yourself. They're turning on a key "unsend" feature.
That's right: You can now delete messages you've sent to a group or an individual. "This is particularly useful if you sent a message to the wrong chat or if the message you sent contains a mistake," explains WhatsApp.
More details about the new feature appear on this WhatsApp FAQ page. There are a few handy tidbits to know before you start drunk texting your friends this weekend.
- To make sure the messages are deleted, everyone has to be using the latest version of WhatsApp.
- There's still a chance the recipient could see the message before you get around to deleting it.
- You won't get a notification of whether or not deletion was successful for everyone.
So, yeah, there's a catch. And as The Next Web noted, the feature doesn't seem to have rolled out for everyone yet. Still, the fact it even is a feature is heartening.
It's similar to a tool rolled out by Google for their Gmail app a few years ago, though to utilize that feature, you have to click "undo" within a set amount of time after sending the email.
That said, if you go back hours later and delete a terrible drunken selfie you sent to someone, there's still a chance they'll see it before you delete it.
So, while the feature may give you chance to erase history, it doesn't fully protect you from dumb decisions. Doing that is up to you.
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