WhatsApp prepares a new ‘disappearance mode’: what exactly does it mean and how it works

WhatsApp brings new features over time and now it has brought us with disappearance mode of messages. After messages that self-destruct after a while, WhatsApp has planned a new function that would take this utility much further.

Privacy is the order of the day, users increasingly value their security and privacy and do not want applications or third parties to find out about their private life through their messages. In response to this new demand, WhatsApp is preparing a new function that will soon arrive on our mobiles. 

From the WABetaInfo website they have announced the imminent arrival of a new function to the Facebook messaging application. They assure that this novelty will be available with the next update for both Android terminals and Apple mobiles.

It is about the Disappearance Mode, in principle a broader version of the messages that self-destruct on WhatsApp and that arrived a few months ago in this application. With it the conversations are deleted automatically.

This new disappearance mode feature ensures that once activated, messages from that chat will begin to disappear. There is no indication of how long they will remain available so that other members of the chat can calmly read those messages before they disappear. At the moment, the information we have indicates that it is a function very similar to that of messages that self-destruct.

WhatsApp disappearance mode
Whatsapp

Perhaps the difference is in the warning message when activating the function. When we activate the messages that self-destruct or “temporary messages”, at the same time those are deleted, but the warning remains in blue indicating that the self-destruct function was activated that day and that we have tried to hide something.

Remember that WhatsApp messages are protected from end to end, this means that they travel encrypted from one terminal to another and are not stored in any data center or company server where others could hack and read them. In other words, the only way for another person to read those messages without permission is to steal and unlock one of those phones.

This is where the usefulness of this new function would come in. If the messages are deleted automatically, that conversation would be as if it had not existed and no one could see it on your mobile or on that of the other person. In addition, you have the possibility to reinforce the security of your mobile and WhatsApp with passwords and biometric systems so that no one can snoop on it without your permission.

This function can be useful for people who suffer some kind of harassment or mistreatment from people who are close to them, such as family, friends or partner. These victims need to ask for help without these communications leaving any trace that the aggressor can locate and perceive that they are trying to flee from him, for that there are telephone lines to help abused women or children that do not leave a trace on the telephone bill and could soon have Similar functions in popular messaging apps like WhatsApp.

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