WhatsApp May Let Users Revoke Unread Messages

Messaging app WhatsApp has announced that they will soon allow users to recall a message before it has been read by its recipient. On a new update in the app’s iPhone beta software, users can hold down on a message, and see two options pop up on the screen, either “Edit” or “Revoke.” WhatsApp, however, hasn’t officially confirmed or denied anything about this new feature. The new option, however, is currently only available for iPhone users.

There have been many updates to the messaging app over the past year, especially for the iPhone version of the app. These updates include easier photo and video sharing capabilities, a redesigned interface, and the option to queue messages. These options, however, aren’t yet available on Android.

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WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, is one of the most popular messaging platforms in the world with over 1 billion users. Along with this potential messaging update, the app also recently launched a video-calling platform similar to Apple’s Facetime.

Prior to this update, users were unable to recall messages that were already sent. However, with the update, if the message has not yet been sent to the recipient — due to a lack of Internet connection or service — it is possible to stop the sending of the message to the recipient by deleting the message from the device.

This new option would open a new world of text messaging. Previously, any accidental or regretted text messages would eventually be read by the intended recipient. Since the app is available in over 50 countries and in dozens of languages, this potential update could positively affect millions around the globe who use the app daily.

In order to turn this feature on, users must restart their phones and find the options buried within the WhatsApp menu options. Without this update, users can still delete messages from the app, but they will still be visible to the recipient. Now, they can be both edited and revoked as long as they remain unread. If this feature proves useful to iPhone users, it will only be a matter of time before it comes to Android devices.

In other news, WhatsApp recently hired Matthew Idema, a former senior executive at Facebook, to be their first chief operating officer, or COO. This new role has been supposedly created in an attempt to help WhatsApp monetize its platform. Idema, who has a strong background in startups and Silicon Valley, helped launch Facebook Messenger and other applications while with the company.