Instant messaging application WhatsApp is going to introduce a change to the disappearing feature available to users.

One problem with the feature that automatically disappears after a set time is that its timer starts as soon as you ‘send’ your message and this means that a message can lie unread in the disappearing position for hours and disappear before anyone sees it.

To eliminate this problem, WhatsApp is now testing a new option for disappearing messages, called ‘After Reading’.

The experiment was identified by WhatsApp Beta Info in the latest beta update for iOS.

After successful testing on Android, the feature is now being released to some beta testers of iOS. It is currently available through the ‘Test Flight Beta Program’ and is expected to be rolled out to all general users in the coming weeks.

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After this option, the time for a message to disappear will no longer start from the moment it is sent, but from the moment it is opened.

Using this option, users can set a time of 5 minutes, 1 hour or 12 hours for the message to disappear after it is opened, and if the next person does not open the message, it will automatically disappear after 24 hours.