Something to keep in mind before sending a risky text via WhatsApp is that disappearing messages are now a bit more optional. Mark Zuckerberg announces a new tweak to the service’s post-read burn feature that allows the recipient to long-press a message and choose to keep it.
WhatsApp describes the adaptation as a “transmitter superpower”, and assuming everything works as designed, it still leaves the sender in control of what ultimately happens to the message. That’s because the sender receives a notification when a recipient tries to save a message, and the sender can then choose whether it will disappear or be saved.
According to the company’s blog post, this gives senders the ability to “veto” a recipient’s attempt to save a message. “If you have decided that your message cannot be kept by others, your decision is final, no one else can keep it, and the message will be deleted when the timer runs out.”
If you decide to save a received message and the sender agrees, it will have a bookmark icon on it and you can see them in your saved messages folder.
The feature will be rolled out globally in the coming weeks.
