Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday announced a new feature for WhatsApp that will enable users to keep disappearing messages when they need them. This feature is simply called ‘Keep In Chat’ and is designed to let users hang on to important messages for later. WhatsApp has added an extra layer of privacy with this feature, ensuring that the messages don’t fall into the wrong hands, the Meta-owned instant messenger said on a blog post.
With 'Keep In Chat', when a user sends a message, they can choose whether or not others in the chat can keep it for later. The sender will be informed if someone chooses to keep a message, and they will have the power to reject the decision. To save a disappearing message, all a user needs to do is tap and hold the message.
WhatsApp claims that users will have the ultimate say in how the messages they send are protected. If a user decides that a message cannot be kept by others, it will be deleted when the timer runs out, and no one else can keep it.
In contrast, messages that are saved on WhatsApp will be marked with a bookmark icon and can be viewed, arranged by chat, in the ‘Kept Messages’ folder. This feature will be launched globally in the coming weeks.
This announcement comes shortly after reports suggested that WhatsApp is working on a feature that will let users add new contacts to their Google account or contact book without leaving the messaging app.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp was recently said to be working to introduce the ability to let users edit messages even after sending them. As per the WhatsApp beta for iOS 23.6.0.74 update, a new dedicated alert is under work that will inform users when their edited message has been successfully sent to everyone in a WhatsApp conversation.