WhatsApp launches ‘Keep in Chat’ to save disappearing messages

WhatsApp users will soon finally be able to use a long-awaited feature: the Keep in Chat feature. This allows a disappearing message to be saved, even if the time limit of 24 hours to 90 days has expired. This is good news for those who want to keep important information sent in a disappearing message. You can secure a message with one (long) press of the button.

How WhatsApp’s Keep in Chat feature works

In WhatsApp conversations it is possible to make messages disappear, but sometimes you still want to keep them. WhatsApp therefore introduces the Keep in Chat feature. This allows a disappearing message to be saved. You do this by long-pressing the message. The sender of the message will then receive a notification asking whether the message may be kept indefinitely. If the sender does not give permission for this, the message will still be deleted after the set time limit.

The saved messages can be found in a separate folder in the chat. This makes it easier to find important information when needed. The feature is not currently available to all WhatsApp users, but will be rolled out gradually over the coming weeks.

Why messages should disappear

Disappearing messages are a convenient way to ensure privacy on WhatsApp. We live in a time where privacy and security are more important than ever. This feature gives us more control over our chat history and protects our privacy. It is also super useful for those of us who receive important information through WhatsApp and want to keep this information without us having to store it elsewhere. Sometimes you don’t want certain information to be kept forever. It is therefore better to make messages with sensitive information, such as passwords or address details, disappear after a certain time. This is where disappearing messages come in handy.

WhatsApp has been offering the option to send disappearing messages for some time now. In addition to the Keep in Chat feature, users can also choose the option to have messages disappear after seven days. This logically means that the message is automatically deleted when it is seven days old.

Please note: these are the risks of disappearing messages

There are also disadvantages to using disappearing messages. For example, it may happen that you forget important information or that you accidentally let an important message disappear. With WhatsApp’s new Keep in Chat function, this is a thing of the past. Users can now save important information without it being automatically deleted after a certain amount of time.

There is also a risk that recipients will still store confidential information without you being aware of it. It is therefore wise to deal consciously with disappearing messages.

Also realize that disappearing messages do not guarantee absolute privacy. It is still possible for recipients to take screenshots of the messages before they disappear. So always be careful about sharing sensitive information via WhatsApp, even if you use disappearing messages.

Quick development

Earlier this year, WhatsApp already introduced a beta version of the Keep in Chat feature. This allowed users to add messages from a group chat to ‘bookmarks’ to save them. This means that users could save a disappearing message and view it later. Anyone could add a post to bookmarks, but once deleted, the bookmarks disappeared forever. The beta was available for Android and iOS, but not all users had access to the new feature.

Another extra tools; what’s next?

WhatsApp’s Keep in Chat feature gives users more control over their disappearing messages and makes it easier to save important information. This new feature is another addition to the popular messaging service. No doubt it will be widely used by WhatsApp users worldwide. The burning question that is undoubtedly on the mind of many now is how long it will be before WhatsApp introduces the next innovation. In any case, we are very curious!

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