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Looks like some of you found our Files Go Beta :-) We thought we’d make it available for a few more of you on the Play Store. Feedback welcome! https://g.co/filesgo/beta
The recall message, officially called Delete For Everyone, is now available to most WhatsApp users in India. The feature that started rolling out on Friday morning is now seemingly reaching almost everyone. And the best bit about it is that you don't have to necessarily update WhatsApp to get it.
Over here at India Today Tech we tested the feature on Version 2.17.395, which is new but not as fresh as beta version 2.17.399 or 2.17.400, and Delete For Everyone works fine. It seems that the feature has been enabled by WhatsApp on server and it doesn't matter even if you are running an older -- but hopefully not years old -- version of the chat app.
The feature, as its name suggests, enables a user to "recall a message" by deleting it. In other words, as soon as you delete a message in a chat window, it also gets deleted from the phone of the person who had received. However, there is a limit to it. You can only delete the message within 7 minutes of sending it. If you try to delete a message after 7 minutes, you won't be offered option to delete form everyone's phone. Here is how the feature works.
-- In a chat window select the message or messages that you want to delete. It is important that the messages must have been sent in the last seven minutes.
-- After selecting the message, tap on the recycle bin (the round bin) on the top of the chat window.
-- You will be presented with three options: cancel will send you back to the chat window, delete for me will delete the message from your phone, delete for everyone will delete the message from everyone's phone.
-- Once a message is deleted, instead of the message you will get to see "This message was deleted" in grey text. If you have deleted the message, then you will see "You deleted the message".
The feature is pretty cool. But do understand that it has some limitations. It will allow users to delete a message that they wrongly sent to some chat window or something that they sent but immediately regretted. It won't allow you to delete a message that the drunk you sent in the night in morning when you are sober and realised your mistake after the re-reading the message. As noted earlier, WhatsApp users will only have a window of 7 minutes to recall or delete a message.
It is also worth noting that you won't be able to delete any message that you forwarded, or in other words a message that is in quotes. It is also important to realise that even if you deleted a message that doesn't mean it wasn't read. It is possible that before you deleted a message, it was read, and it is also possible that it was screenshoted.
WhatsApp has over 1 billion daily active users today. The increasing popularity of the chat app has made it synonymous to the messaging. SMS sounds old and obsolete now. These days SMS box is opened only to view OTPs, telecom's promotional messages and your bank transaction details. WhatsApp has become an indispensible part of our lives. The app has made it fast and easier to stay connected with our friends.
However, it can be little annoying at times when the chat app automatically download all those stupid memes, audio files, videos and photos. This not just makes the phone's gallery look like a complete mess, it also eats up you mobile data. Here is a fix to this to this problem.
For Android phones:
If you are an Android user, open your WhatsApp, go to Settings>Data and storage usage>Media auto download. Now uncheck all the three boxes under the Media auto download- when using mobile data, when connected on Wifi and when roaming.
For iPhones:
iPhone users can also de-clutter their phone from annoying audio file, videos and photos. Open WhatsApp>Settings>Data and storage usage.
Now check the Never box for photos, videos, audio and documents.
Low data usage for WhatsApp calls
WhatsApp also has an option to lower the amount of data it uses during WhatsApp voice calls. Open WhatsApp>Settings>Data and storage usage> Low data usage.
Few quick points to save mobile data and phone storage when using the WhatsApp:
-- Stop auto-download of heavy files. Videos are entertaining but hog a lot of space on your phone. You can always set the auto-download for such videos when on WiFi.
-- Allow chat back up but only on WiFi. WhatsApp stores all your text chats and images. While this is an important feature as it allows you to retrieve your photos later from Cloud, backing up on mobile data can eat up your mobile data. So try doing it only on WiFi.
-- WhatsApp has an option where you can view your contacts and how much space each is taking. Go to WhatsApp> Storage and data usage>Storage usage.
Now you will see all your recent chats along with the space each is consuming on your phone. Select the chat>Manage messages>Clear messages.
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