Today, WhatsApp officially revealed one of the most anticipated features: message editing. In a Facebook post, Mark Zuckerberg stated that users can now change a message within 15 minutes of sending it. You may change the message by pressing and holding on to it and then tapping on the edit option. To indicate the change, the changed messages will have an “edited” tag next to the time stamp. However, the app will not keep any rectification history. Previous versions of altered messages will not be visible to other users.
“We’re excited that you’ll now have more control over your chats, such as correcting misspellings or adding more context to a message. For this, within 15 minutes of sending the message, you have to tap and hold that message for a while and then select the option of ‘Edit’ from the menu,” the company said in a blog post.
Previously, users had to either delete the message or send a correction in a new message. The messaging software doubled the time restriction for deleting a message from two days (48 hours) to 60 hours.
WhatsApp’s competitors, such as Telegram and Signal, have long provided the option to edit messages. Apple also included the option to edit and unsend iMessage messages with iOS16. Last year, Twitter also added an edit button for paying users. While the message modification time limit is not as liberal as Telegram’s 48-hour window, it is still better than nothing.
I’ve made a few typos in messages, but the editing option allows me to rapidly amend errors rather than send another message. Sending corrections can be perplexing to the recipient. It also generates unneeded notifications. When you delete a message, it does not totally remove it from the chat, which might be perplexing. Instead, it has been replaced by a greyed-out remark that reads, “This message was deleted.”
Meta said that the feature is already rolling out to users and will be available to everyone in a few weeks.
