WhatsApp Rolls Out Feature to Briefly Undo Pressing the ‘Delete for Me’ Button on iOS, Android

WhatsApp has announced that it is rolling out a new feature that could come in handy when users accidentally press Delete for Me instead of Delete for Everyone on the app. The Meta-owned messaging service's new ‘accidental delete' feature initiates a 5-second window for users to reverse their action of deleting the message for themselves and subsequently allows them to delete the message for everyone. The feature is available on both individual and group chats on iPhone and Android handsets.

Feature tracker WABetaInfo first reported in August that the messaging service was testing the ability to undo the action of deleting a message with some Android and iOS testers on the beta version of the app. The feature is now rolling out to all users, the company announced via a tweet on Tuesday.

In 2017, the messaging platform introduced the Delete for Everyone option so users could retract a message from all participants of a conversation in case they sent it by mistake. Initially, the rollout was limited to just 7 minutes, but it was eventually increased to 60 hours in August.

Meanwhile, after adding the disappearing messages feature in 2020, the instant messaging and voice-over-IP service is now working on an “extreme” version of that option.

The messaging service is working on view-once text messages, similar to the feature for sending images and videos that can only be viewed once on Android and iOS. The feature was spotted on version 2.22.25.20 of WhatsApp beta for Android. Once a user sends such a message, the recipient cannot share or forward the message.

For photos and videos, the view-once functionality is currently enabled by choosing an image or video to send and then tapping on the encircled ‘1' icon on the right side of the caption prompt. With the view-once feature for text messages, WABetaInfo says the app could introduce a special send button icon with an added padlock for text messages, adding that the design may change once the feature comes out of beta.