Huge change to WhatsApp as ‘kept message’ function could let users save chats before they are deleted

THE popular messaging platform WhatsApp is now introducing a new ‘kept message’ feature that may allow its users to save chats before they are deleted permanently.

Recent updates from WhatsApp from May of this year confirmed that they were working on a function for keeping messages like many other messaging applications, reports WABetaInfo.

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Now, the project is officially under development at the company, set to bring users its ‘kept message’ feature in a new software update.

“It [kept message] is a disappearing message temporarily converted to a standard WhatsApp message, so it can be kept in the chat even after its expiration,” explains WABetaInfo.

Users should be able to view and keep messages in the update through a specific section as well.

“Kept messages can be viewed within chat info in a new section called “Kept messages”, and all people in the conversation can open this section,” WABetaInfo says.

However, when a different function called disappearing messages is turned on in a chat, those messages can only be kept, not starred like in other chats.

Again, the feature is still under development at WhatsApp, yet they have now introduced a pop-up informative description of the feature for the future update when users turn on disappearing messages.

“This alert introduced what the changes are about: it will be possible to keep a disappearing message in order to prevent its automatic deletion for all people in the conversation, but everyone can also un-keep the message for other people later,” reports WABetaInfo.

Group administrators will still have the ultimate power over the feature when it releases.

“In addition, WhatsApp will let group admins limit this feature, so probably there will be a new privacy setting that allows group admins to toggle the ability to keep a disappearing message.”

WhatsApp still has not confirmed an official release date of the beta version for testers or the actual update.

WABetaInfo’s Twitter account also reports details and updates from WhatsApp developers for more info on exactly when ‘kept messages’ might appear.

This feature will likely be beneficial for many WhatsApp users, especially administrators.

WhatsApp is now catching up with other platforms that have had similar features for some time now.

This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk