WhatsApp is finally rolling out ephemeral messages, the ones that’ll disappear after a fixed amount of time. There’s a catch though. Your disappearing messages will last for seven days on the chat. “Our goal is to make conversations on WhatsApp feel as close …

WhatsApp is finally rolling out ephemeral messages, the ones thatll disappear after a fixed amount of time. Theres a catch though. Your disappearing messages will last for seven days on the chat.
Our goal is to make conversations on WhatsApp feel as close to in-person as possible, which means they shouldnt have to stick around forever. Thats why were excited to introduce the option to use disappearing messages on WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned chat app said in a statement. 
WhatsApp has been experimenting with this feature in the apps code for a while now. However, as WABetaInfo has noted, these tests had disappearing times from seconds to hours.
Usually, other messaging services such as Signal offer time limits ranging between a couple of minutes to a few hours. But WhatsApps seven-day limit is rather unusual. The company said that its starting with this range so you dont forget what you were chatting about. 
Self-destructive messages can be handy if you want to send sensitive details such as private photos or financial details that you dont want to be around forever. However, the seven-day limit might hold some folks back from sending certain kinds of information begging the question of whether its the worst of both worlds, rather than the best.
You can learn more about WhatsApps ephemeral messages feature here.
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Published November 5, 2020 — 09:20 UTC