New WhatsApp update will make group chat admins even more powerful

WhatsApp
(Image credit: Pexels/Anton)

Look out, WhatsApp users – the popular messaging service is adding yet another tool to the arsenal of overbearing group chat admins.

As spotted by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is working on a new update that will grant admins the ability to delete any and all messages sent in groups chats they oversee. At present, messages can only be deleted by the users who originally sent them, but this new feature – set to roll out in beta soon – would share the privilege with admins. 

All group participants will, however, be notified if and when an admin deletes a group message, and admins will be warned of that fact before confirming the option to do so. 

The message admins will be shown prior to deleting a group message

(Image credit: WABetaInfo)

As part of a more imminent app update, WhatsApp users will also be granted more time to delete embarrassing or mistimed group chat messages (let’s be honest: we’ve all been there…). 

The Delete For Everyone feature, which currently remains active for 1 hour, 8 minutes and 16 seconds after a message is sent, will soon be extended to 2 days and 12 hours.

As reported by SamMobile, this extended time is already available for some Android users – having previously been included in WhatsApp beta version 2.22.15.8 – and is expected to rollout to all WhatsApp users in an upcoming software update. 

The ability to delete group WhatsApp messages has undoubtedly proven a helpful feature for millions of carefree texters in recent years, whose occasional drunk or mistimed messages have been swiftly banished from their respective group chats. 

Put simply, WhatsApp’s latest update will grant users the helpful option of deleting said messages the morning after – rather than within the hour of sending them…  

TOPICS
Axel Metz
Phones Editor

Axel is TechRadar's UK-based Phones Editor, reporting on everything from the latest Apple developments to newest AI breakthroughs as part of the site's Mobile Computing vertical. Having previously written for publications including Esquire and FourFourTwo, Axel is well-versed in the applications of technology beyond the desktop, and his coverage extends from general reporting and analysis to in-depth interviews and opinion.  Axel studied for a degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick before joining TechRadar in 2020, where he then earned an NCTJ qualification as part of the company’s inaugural digital training scheme.

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