WhatsApp’s secret new feature will delete texts once you’ve read them — and it could be coming to iOS and Android soon
- WhatsApp is testing a new missing messages feature
- It can delete texts after reading them, not just after a set timer
- The feature is currently being tested on iOS and Android
If you want to be able to send a WhatsApp message to someone on your iPhone and have it disappear after reading it, you’re in luck, because it looks like WhatsApp is currently testing this feature with a view to potentially launching it in the future.
At least that’s what a new leak from WABetaInfo reveals. On its blog, WABetaInfo claims that WhatsApp is working on a new feature that will delete messages on iOS once read. This could be a good way to protect your privacy if you don’t want certain messages to remain.
Disappearing messages already exist in WhatsApp, but they are much more limited in their current iteration. Currently, you can set messages to disappear after a specified period of time: 24 hours, seven days, or 90 days. However, this is an option that is akin to “brute force”, because it does not take into account whether the texts were actually read before being deleted.
The new update changes that. It adds an “after reading” option in the message timer settings that will let you tell WhatsApp to delete your texts once the recipient has seen them, not just once a preset timer expires. This gives you more flexibility and ensures that the recipient of the text actually has a chance to read what you’ve sent before it disappears.
Gone in 60 seconds
WABetaInfo describes this change as bringing “a new layer of privacy to disappearing messages.” And although users should now have read the message you sent them, you can still control how long WhatsApp waits afterwards before purging texts, with options such as five minutes, one hour or 12 hours. However, messages that remain unread will disappear after 24 hours, regardless of the setting you choose.
Interestingly, the sender and receiver timers do not need to be in sync with each other. WABetaInfo says that if you set the timer for, say, five minutes, the message will be deleted from your own device once that period has passed. But if the person on the other end doesn’t open it for several hours, it will still be available on their phone. As soon as they open it, the five-minute timer starts.
WhatsApp began testing this extended disappearing message timer in April 2026, but at that time it was limited to Android devices. Now it is also expanding to iOS. The fact that it’s being tested on both major operating systems implies that it could be close to release.
That said, it’s unclear when this feature might be available. WABetaInfo has no information on the release schedule and there’s no official word from WhatsApp, so we’ll have to wait and see when it arrives.
Still, this feature could be a nice addition, whether you already use Disappearing Messages and want more control or you’ve never tried them but are curious about how they can protect your privacy. Stay tuned for more information on an official launch date.
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