Do you have something to hide? In that case, WhatsApp’s planning on helping you get it done. The services is working on a feature that lets users set messages to self-destruct after a set period. And yes, we’re aware that this isn’t the first time.

Legitimate uses

Last year, WhatsApp was testing the ability to auto-delete messages in group chats. The feature would allow for messages to be set to set themselves aflame after a user-determined period. Guess what the new features for private chats would do?

If you guess, ‘let you set messages to set themselves aflame after a user-determined period”, congratulations! You know how to extrapolate from previously revealed information.

Website WABetaInfo, which deals in this sort of thing, found the feature in the 2.20.83/2.20.84 update but for private messages. Which, if it sticks around, will mean users will be able to blow up their own messages after a pre-determined time. Provided the feature releases, and there’s no timeline for that. Yet.

As for its usefulness — there are negative ways to use the feature. Perhaps you’re cheating on a partner or something and want to be sure certain messages aren’t seen? This’ll let that happen. But the world isn’t all negative — it can also be used to share sensitive info with friends — like banking info or ID numbers — while ensuring that the data doesn’t stick around on servers forever. See? Balance.

Source/Image: WABetaInfo