WhatsApp has been forging one of its most confusing novelties for some time: preserved messages. References have been appearing in their beta for a few weeks, but it has not been until now when they are finally functional and we have been able to test them.
The preserved messages of WhatsApp are something like a protection against automatic deletion of a chat, something that WhatsApp calls temporary messages. They are also somewhat similar to starred messages, which it replaces, but with important differences.
What is “keep messages” for?
WhatsApp allows us to configure an expiration for any chat with temporary messages. To choose -for now- between 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days, the messages They are automatically deleted when their expiration time passes. After they are deleted, there is no trace of the messages in the chat: they simply disappear.
The problem is that there will be those who want to activate temporary messages in a chat for the vast majority of the conversation except for some important messages. That’s where preserved messages come in.
The same chat before and after the deletion time has passed and all messages except the ones kept have been deleted
Until now WhatsApp lets us highlight important messages with, that, “star messages”. We could continue using them in a chat with expiration, but the problem is that the message ended up being deletedno matter how important it was.
Therefore, now WhatsApp replaces highlighting messages with keeping messages in those messages that have an expiration date, that is, that have been written after the temporary chats have been activated in said chat.
When saving a message, it is not deleted even though its deletion time has passed. It stays in the chat, highlighted with the bookmark icon in one corner.
How to keep messages on WhatsApp
WhatsApp Preserved Messages work very similarly to Starred Messages. To keep a message so that it is not deleted after its expiration date, you must first select it with a long touch. After, press the bookmark icon in the top bar.
This icon only appears if the message has an expiration dateOtherwise, what you will see is the star to highlight the message. When you mark a message to keep, it’s displayed to everyone in the chat and a notification is sent to the other person.
Holding a message sends a notification to its author
what if you want it stop keeping? Then all you have to do is follow the reverse steps: make a long touch on the message to select it and click on the crossed out bookmark icon.
What happens next can vary. If it is a message that has already expired, it will be deleted from the chat immediately. If it’s a message from you and you decide not to keep it, no one else will be able to mark it again to keep it.
The function is still somewhat more complicated than usual, although it is a tool that is going to be quite Useful for those who use temporary chats extensively by WhatsApp. It is being activated in its beta and it will probably not take us long to see it also in the official version of WhatsApp.
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