Mark Zuckerberg confirms Snapchat-style features coming to WhatsApp
WhatsApp looks set to introduce a set of new features that many users have long been asking for.
The world’s most popular chat app will finally introduce proper multi-device support as well as implementing Snapchat-style disappearing messages.
Confirmation of the new features came from none other than Mark Zuckerberg himself.
The Facebook overlord joined WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart to reveal the news to WABetaInfo – an anonymous blog devoted to reporting on changes to WhatsApp.
Through a series of messages – on WhatsApp, natch – the two Silicon Valley heavyweights explained that multi-device chat really is coming.
At present, WhatsApp is tied to one specific phone number which limits it to one device. The ‘web’ version of WhatsApp simply piggybacks off the iPhone or Android hosting the SIM card. That’s why there’s no real way to get WhatsApp on your iPad.
At the moment, if you sign in to your WhatsApp account on another phone, it will log you out of the first one as a security precaution. Which, if you regularly use two, can become a bit frustrating.
But according to Zuck, users will soon be able to sync messages with up to four devices and the content will remain end-to-end encrypted.
‘It’s been a big technical challenge to get all your messages and content to sync properly across devices even when your phone battery dies, but we’ve solved this and we’re looking forward to getting it out soon!’ the billionaire wrote.
Cathcart added that the feature will be going into public beta ‘in the next month or two’.
Elsewhere, the long-rumoured disappearing messages and pictures seem to finally be coming to the chat app.
‘We already rolled out the ability to turn on disappearing messages in any chat thread,’ Zuckerberg wrote.
‘We’re about to start rolling out “disappearing mode”, which turns on disappearing messages in all of your threads so your WhatsApp experience basically becomes ephemeral.’
He went on to explain that WhatsApp will soon have a very Snapchat-like feature called ‘view once’.
‘We’re also about to start rolling out “view once”, so that you can send content and have it disappear after the person sees it,’ he wrote.
Despite being the most popular messaging app in the world, WhatsApp is in the process of recovering from a bruising misfire over planned changes to its privacy policy.
The app wanted tighter integration with Facebook, but many users disagreed and started jumping ship to rival services like Signal and Telegram.
News of these incoming features may go a long way to restoring WhatsApp’s reputation and even bringing in even more users.
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