WhatsApp adds edit button, with a 15-minute window to tweak messages
WhatsApp users will soon be able to edit messages for up to 15 minutes after they have been sent.
The Meta-owned instant messaging service says that it is adding “extra context” to communications, with the hopes to improve the overall user experience.
Currently, users on the platform are able to delete messages for up to two days afterwards, but they were not able to update messages.
This can be frustrating, especially in the case of spelling errors, or otherwise incorrect information.
“All you need to do is long-press on a sent message and choose ‘Edit’ from the menu for up to fifteen minutes after,” WhatsApp said in an official blog post.
Recipients will then see an “edited” tag beneath the message, but they will be unable to browse the revisions that have been made.
WhatsApp says that the new feature is already rolling out, and it should be widely available in a few weeks.
This news will be welcomed by the 2bn people who are active users on Meta’s messaging service.
Around a quarter of that engaged audience is based in India, where it has 487m users.
WhatsApp’s decision to introduce an edit button is perhaps an overdue one.
Facebook has had editing functionality for almost a decade; competitors Telegram and Signal also offer such a feature.
However, Facebook’s version of the feature differs slightly in that it provides a history of the tweaks made to a message.
Twitter also rolled out edits for tweets last year as part of the Twitter Blue subscription service.
Elon Musk said this would make conversations “more approachable and less stressful” for users.
Twitter allows a longer edit window than WhatsApp at 30 minutes.