When it comes to messaging platforms, Apple’s Messages app is arguably a bit dull. Sure, it does a few things extraordinarily well. But still, it lacks many features that are common across several other messaging platforms. In light of that, it’s a bit surprising to learn that WhatsApp will reportedly be incorporating a feature that Apple managed to include first: the ability to edit and unsend messages.
WhatsApp to get an Edit feature
As a bit of a backdrop, Apple a few weeks ago rolled out an iPhone 14 ad that shows the Edit feature in action.
Word of the forthcoming WhatsApp update first surfaced on Wabetainfo this week. And given how popular WhatsApp is as a messaging platform, this feature is certainly long overdue.
According to the report, WhatsApp recently submitted a new update via TestFlight. As it stands now, users will be able to edit and unsend messages by bringing up the contextual menu. If a message is updated by a user, it will be accompanied by an “Edited” tag, similar to what Apple does with iOS 16.
In addition, WhatsApp will offer users up to 15 minutes to edit their text messages after being sent. Since this is the first version of editing messages, it will only be possible to edit text messages because editing the caption for images, videos, and documents, is not currently supported but we can expect an improved version of the feature before the release.
Mark Zuckerberg takes a shot at iMessage
Just a few months ago, Meta took out a WhatsApp thatich took shots at both Android and iMessage. The ad showed a green bubble alongside a blue bubble, whirepresentsent Android and iPhone, respectively. And below that was a third WhatsApp bubble with the phrase “Private Bubble” within it. A caption to the ad read: “Protect your personal messages across devices with end-to-end encryption.”
Commenting on the ad, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg added:
WhatsApp is far more private and secure than iMessage, with end-to-end encryption that works across both iPhones and Android, including group chats. With WhatsApp you can also set all new chats to disappear with the tap of a button. And last year we introduced end-to-end encrypted backups too. All of which iMessage still doesn’t have
It’s certainly not surprising to see Zuckerberg go after Apple. After all, Apple’s anti-tracking feature, which went live with an iOS 14.5 update a few years ago, has had a significant and detrimental impact on Facebook’s bottom line.
On a final and somewhat related note, make sure to check out our list of 9 hidden iMessage features every iPhone user should know.
