When it comes to messaging platforms, Apple’s Messages app is arguably a little boring. Sure, it does a few things exceptionally well. Still, it lacks many features common to several other messaging platforms. Given that, it’s a little surprising to learn that WhatsApp will reportedly include a feature that Apple was first to include: the ability to edit and cancel messages.
WhatsApp to get an editing feature
As a little background, Apple released an iPhone 14 ad a few weeks ago showing the editing feature in action.
News of the upcoming WhatsApp update first surfaced on Wabetainfo this week. And given WhatsApp’s popularity as a messaging platform, this feature is certainly long overdue.
According to the report, WhatsApp recently submitted a new update via TestFlight. As it stands now, users can edit and withdraw messages by invoking the context menu. When a message is updated by a user, it’s accompanied by a “Edited” tag, much like Apple does with iOS 16.
Additionally, WhatsApp gives users up to 15 minutes to edit their text messages after they’ve been sent. As this is the first version to edit messages, only text messages can be edited as editing caption for images, videos and documents is not currently supported, but we can expect an improved version of the feature before the release.
Mark Zuckerberg tries iMessage
Just a few months ago, Meta released a WhatsApp that shot both Android and iMessage. The ad showed a green bubble next to a blue bubble representing Android and iPhone respectively. And below that was a third WhatsApp bubble with the phrase “Private Bubble” inside. A headline for the ad read, “Protect your personal messages across all devices with end-to-end encryption.”
Commenting on the ad, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, added:
WhatsApp is far more private and secure than iMessage, with end-to-end encryption that works on both iPhones and Android, including group chats. WhatsApp also lets you make all new chats disappear with the click of a button. And last year we also introduced end-to-end encrypted backups. iMessage doesn’t have any of that yet
It’s certainly not surprising that Zuckerberg is after Apple. Finally, Apple’s anti-tracking feature, which went live a few years ago with an iOS 14.5 update, has had a significant and detrimental impact on Facebook’s bottom line.
As a final and somewhat related note, be sure to check out our list of 9 Hidden iMessage Features Every iPhone User Should Know.
