WhatsApp users can now choose to make their messages disappear after a variety of time periods thanks to a new update.
The Meta-owned messaging app has extended options for its disappearing messages feature, which was rolled out late last year.
As well as being able to make messages disappear after seven days, users now have two extra options for how long the deletion period is – 24 hours and 90 days.
Turning on the Disappearing Messages feature makes all new messages disappear from a chosen chat after the user's specified period of time.
People might want to choose to delete their messages for a personal reason. For example, they may contain sensitive information they don't want accessible anywhere – not even on WhatsApp, which is end-to-end encrypted.
Generally, WhatsApp wants to emulate the security of face-to-face conversations and give users the knowledge that their messages aren't being stored online.
Storing all conversations forever is 'the equivalent of a note taker following us around making a permanent record of everything we've said,' WhatsApp claims.
Also as of today, WhatsApp has given users the ability to have Disappearing Messages turned on for all their new chats.
Scroll down for video
WhatsApp is adding two new durations for disappearing messages - 24 hours and 90 days. This complements the existing option of seven days
WhatsApp outlined the changes in a blog post. They start rolling out globally for WhatsApp users from today.
'Deciding how long a message lasts should be in your hands,' it says. 'We've become accustomed to leaving a digital copy of just about everything we type without even thinking about it.
'It's become the equivalent of a note taker following us around making a permanent record of everything we've said.
'Today we are excited to provide our users with more options to control their messages and how long they stick around.'
Today's other new change – having Disappearing Messages turned on for all their new chats – is optional and does not change or delete any existing chats.
When turned on, this feature will automatically apply Disappearing Messages to all one-to-one chats that users start or are started with other users.
Users can also opt to turn on Disappearing Messages for group chats that they create – however, the feature isn't automatically set for group chats like it is for one-to-one chats.
Announcing this feature, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta
