WhatsApp might soon save us from the embarrassment of our simple spelling mistakes, as an edit messages feature looks to be in development for the app.
We’ve all speedily typed out a message, only to hit and send and instantly realize that a good chunk of the words are spelled incorrectly. You can try to correct the mistake with a follow-up message, but by that point, the damage is done and everyone can see a permanent record of the time you misspelled ’at’.
WhatsApp might soon let you correct such mistakes, as an edit messages feature is being teased in the latest WhatsApp beta (via WABetaInfo). While the feature itself isn’t live yet, an in-app notification has been discovered in the latest update which warns recipients of a message that “This message was edited for everyone in this chat on the latest version of WhatsApp.”
You aren’t able to actually edit messages in the app yet – not even in the public beta version – but the notification strongly suggests that this tool will be added to WhatsApp soon. That said, remember to take this info with a pinch of salt, as there’s always a chance the feature could get scrapped no matter how far along in development it appears to be.
How will WhatsApp message-editing work?
Because the feature isn’t even part of the WhatsApp beta yet we aren’t certain how it will work in practice, but early signs suggest that you’ll have a short window (about 15 minutes) to edit a message after it’s been sent. Any message you edit will then get an 'Edited' label, so people know you altered what you typed, though it’s unclear if the app will keep a log of what the message said before it was edited.
Beyond helping you correct mistakes, editing messages can help you avoid confusion in your communication. If you’ve written out a message that isn’t super clear you can make an edit and clear up any issues before people even notice.
This isn’t the first time a message-editing feature has been teased for WhatsApp, so a launch could be coming fairly soon. We’ll just have to wait to see what’s announced for the app in the coming months, but hopefully, our fat-finger errors will soon be a thing of the past.
If message-editing isn't enough to persuade you to stick with WhatsApp, check out our picks for the other best encrypted messaging apps for Android in 2023.
