WhatsApp users will soon be able to edit messages within 15 minutes of sending them. Meta chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg announced the feature in a Facebook post.

"You can now edit your WhatsApp messages up to 15 mins after they're sent!" Zuckerberg wrote.

To edit texts on WhatsApp, users will need to long-press on a sent message and choose 'edit' from the menu for up to 15 minutes after.

"Edited messages will display 'edited' alongside them, so those you're messaging are aware of the correction without showing edit history," the messaging giant says in a blog post.

This feature has started rolling out to users globally and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks.

"As with all personal messages, media and calls, your messages and the edits you make are protected by end-to-end encryption," says WhatsApp.

"For the moments when you make a mistake, or simply change your mind, you can now edit your sent messages. From correcting a simple misspelling to adding extra context to a message, we're excited to bring you more control over your chats," the most used messaging service in the world says.

This comes a week after WhatsApp launched a feature that allows users to put a conversation in a folder that can only be accessed with their device's password or biometric, like a fingerprint. The Chat Lock feature on WhatsApp lets users protect their most intimate conversations behind one more layer of security. "Locking a chat takes that thread out of your inbox and puts it behind its own folder that can only be accessed with your device's password or biometric, like a fingerprint. It also automatically hides the contents of that chat in notifications, too," the messaging app had said.

"We believe this feature will be great for people who share their phones from time to time with a family member, or in moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra-special chat arrives," the social media giant said. "You can lock a chat by tapping the name of a one-to-one or group and selecting the lock option. To reveal these chats, slowly pull down on your inbox and enter your password or biometric."

Over the next few months, WhatsApp said it is going to be adding more options for Chat Lock, including locks for companion devices and creating a custom password for your chats so that users can use a unique password different from their phone's.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp parent Meta was issued a 1.2 billion euro fine following an inquiry into its Facebook service, by the Irish Data Protection Authority (IE DPA). This fine, which is the largest GDPR fine ever, was imposed for Meta’s transfers of personal data to the U.S. Meta has been ordered to bring its data transfers into compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

whatsapp text

WhatsApp users can now edit texts up to 15 mins after sending