WhatsApp is making some improvements to its new Delete For Everyone feature, according to the latest rumours.
The Facebook-owned chat app is believed to be ironing out some of the quirks with its latest feature, which allows users to delete messages after they have been sent.
WhatsApp added the ability to delete sent messages from an individual conversation or group chat back in November 2017.
The feature, which is available on iOS, Android and Windows, replaces the message with a note, stating: “This message was deleted”.
When it launched, WhatsApp only allowed users to delete a sent message within the first seven minutes of it being sent.
However, it has since extended the deadline to one hour, eight minutes and 16 seconds.
After that deadline, WhatsApp users are only able to delete the message from their own smartphone, which has no effect on your recipients’ chats – leaving them still able to see the messages.
Behind the scenes, WhatsApp is believed to have made some changes to how its Delete For Everyone features works in an effort to eradicate unofficial third-party apps that allow users to hijack the feature and delete messages sent at any time.
According to WABetaInfo, which tracks the latest developments in WhatsApp beta releases, some of these unofficial apps allowed users to delete messages sent three years ago.
It is not recommended that users download unofficial apps and link them to their WhatsApp account.
WABetaInfo claims these unofficial third-party messaging clients were primarily on Android smartphones.
However, the latest tweaks behind-the-scenes should break the workaround used by these apps.
The news comes as WhatsApp added a new Stickers feature to its iOS app.
The new stickers allow users to tag a location, as well as the current time, on any photos and videos sent to an individual recipient, or group chat.
WhatsApp’s new stickers are fairly limited, with only two designs to choose from for the location sticker, and the choice of either an analogue or digital clock for the timestamp.
Similar functionality has existed on rival social networks, including Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook Messenger, for a while.
Snapchat lets users add stickers which are specific to their current location, including historic monuments and local points of interest.
Previously, WhatsApp only allowed users add emoji to their photos and videos on WhatsApp.