WhatsApp comes with new features quite often, we have been waiting impatiently for one of the latest ones for a long time and now we finally got it. Following the example of Telegram and some other competitors, the application allows editing of messages. Just hold your finger on the message whose content the user wants to change and select Edit in the subsequent menu. This is certainly a welcome improvement in case of a typo, various changes in circumstances, or if you simply change your mind.
Of course, the possibilities of changing the content have their limitations. There is a 15 minute time window to edit any sent message. After this time, any correction is no longer possible. Similar to Telegram, if the content of a message is changed, the recipient will receive a notification. Edited messages will have the text "edited" next to them. So those you correspond with will know about the fix, but they won't be shown the edit history. Like all other communications, including media and calls, the edits you make are protected by end-to-end encryption.
IT'S HERE 📣 Message Editing is rolling out now.
You now get up to 15 minutes after sending a message to edit it. So you don't have to worry if you duck it up 🦆 pic.twitter.com/JCWNzmXwVr
- WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) May 22, 2023
WhatsApp has confirmed that the feature is being rolled out globally and is expected to be available to all users in the coming weeks. If you can't wait any longer, you'll probably have to be patient for a while longer. It's probably fair to say that this feature came a few years late, but that doesn't change its usefulness, and its introduction can only be welcomed. Many users find it puzzling why it took the company so long to introduce this major improvement. The delay, in the eyes of some, underscores the palpable shortcomings the messaging giant faces compared to its competitors.
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The second of the novelties will please some users, but may annoy others. WhatsApp is also introducing a reminder for backup passwords. As already mentioned, communication within the application takes place using end-to-end encryption, thus greatly eliminating the risk of content being intercepted by third parties. Until September 2021, the only shortcoming was that the backups of the WhatsApp application to the cloud were not encrypted, which represented a security risk. Last year, Meta enabled encrypted backups of the app to Google Drive, which are password protected. However, if you are not one of those who change phones often, you are much more likely to forget this password. In order to prevent this from happening, WhatsApp will now occasionally remind you by asking you to enter it.
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If you forget your backup password, your WhatsApp chat history will be blocked and Google and Meta will not help you here. Unlike a Google or Facebook account, there is no eventuality to recover a forgotten password that you can use to access your encrypted chat history again. If you've already forgotten your password and a reminder pops up, use the Turn off encrypted backups option. If necessary, you can re-enable the security feature with a new password or 64-digit key. However, this will result in losing access to the previous history of encrypted WhatsApp chats.
If you use a new password to encrypt an application backup, we recommend that you save it in one of the reliable password managers for Android, so that you don't have to go through a similar experience again.
