All about the option to cancel message on WhatsApp

Semua tentang opsi untuk membatalkan pesan di WhatsApp

WhatsApp has been testing a feature for a while that will certainly cause controversy when released to everyone: the option to cancel a message after it’s sent. The function has reached the beta version of the app on iOS and now we have some more details about this new feature.

The tests

Two new features are being tested since December 2016 on WhatsApp for iOS. The first one is the option to edit a message already sent, that is, you send something to another contact and can correct the text later.

However, the novelty that will give the talk is to revoke a message, which will allow the user to cancel a message already sent. Below, you can see a preview of the feature running on iOS:

How long will you have to cancel a message?

The news on the topic arrived through the channel WABetaInfo, known for breaking up the application code and finding data for planned features for the future. Apparently, the WhatsApp development team wants to limit the time users of the app will have to repent and cancel a message.

At the beginning of the tests, WhatsApp offered up to 29 minutes for the user to remove a message from a conversation. However, according to the tweet below, this time period has passed to just 2 minutes:

In other words, if you are hot-headed and send a message to a friend, the time for regret will be just two minutes, which, frankly, is almost nothing. However, in doing so, the developers slightly spice up the relationship between users and the platform. That is, you will still be practically stuck in the old system, but with the false idea that you are «free to come and go».

Opinion by Camila Rinaldi

Editing a message sent 30 minutes later is practically deleted.

At the beginning of this article, I mentioned that there were two functions under test: editing and removing messages. By limiting the time to delete a message, WhatsApp may be combining these two features, since editing a message sent 30 minutes later is practically deleting it.

Ultimately, this option will focus on editing the message rather than removing it.

There is still no estimate of the arrival of this feature to WhatsApp, but if the test cycle to offer the function to «cancel sent messages» is the same as that of video calls … we can wait while seated.

What do you think of the feature? Does putting a time limit make sense?


The purpose of this article is to gather all information about the development of WhatsApp’s message removal feature in one place. Thus, the updating and republication of this matter will become necessary over time.