How many times have you fired off a WhatsApp message only to be hit by that sudden, terrifying thought – ‘I really shouldn’t have sent that’. Well at last there’s a solution.
After months of development WhatsApp have started rolling out the Delete for Everyone feature, which allows you to recall messages after you’ve sent them. This applies to text messages, gifs, video, pictures… pretty much anything you can send on WhatsApp, however it must be done within seven minutes of sending the message.
How to recall messages on WhatsApp The much anticipated feature is easy to use. Simply highlight the message you wish you didn’t send, select Delete from the menu and then hit Delete for Eveyone. It’s only available to certain users at the moment and only on the latest version of WhatsApp, so head over to the App Store and download all those updates you’ve been continually putting off.
WhatsApp say the feature will be useful if your message ‘contains a mistake’, but we all know the new feature will really have three functions:
1. Damage control when you accidentally post a message to the group chat slagging someone off.
2. Letting you backtrack from a risky message to someone you’re flirting with.
3. The last line of defence when you accidentally send a message about last weekend’s illicit behaviour to your mother.
However, the people you are messaging can still see the message before you delete it (WhatsApp can’t delete things from people’s brains, after all), and even if you manage to recall a message before the other person returns to their phone, they will still be able to see ‘This message was deleted’.
WhatsApp will also let you know if the recall wasn’t successful, just so you know if you need to send a grovelling apology message or not.