WhatsApp Disappearing Messages And A Whole New Look

Early peeks at software in development with WhatsApp showed info on Disappearing Messages and new chat bubbles this week. The bit with Disappearing Messages appear to be coming to iOS next, with message timer choices aplenty. This update in testing shows message timers at 24 hours, 7 days, 90 days, and (off).

If you're using the iOS version of WhatsApp in beta, per WABetaInfo, you'll find new data on Disappearing Messages – mostly on how they'll work. Per the note: "For more privacy and storage, all new messages will disappear from this chat for everyone after the selected duration. Anyone in the chat can change this setting."

To be extra clear – this feature is NOT available to the public just yet. It'll likely be released in the next few weeks, starting with iOS users and rolling over to Android. That's IF WhatsApp decides to go through with releasing the feature and IF they release the feature with one operating system before the other, as per the usual.

There's also a relatively major change coming to the UI for WhatsApp. The default colors of bubbles in WhatsApp will change slightly, and the shape of said bubbles will change slightly more significantly. The old light and new light colors are quite similar – the new version is just a TINY bit lighter, still in the same green arena.

The Dark Bubble color removes a bit of the blue, moving away from aqua, toward forest green. It's a bit darker and more uniform with the new Light Bubble color. Both bubbles will have more round corners, all around the bubble. They're preparing for a future that's ever-so-slightly more cartoonish, and not quite so sharp.

Take a peek at the timeline below for more information on how WhatsApp is working on voice message audio, and the end of service for old smartphones starting this November. If you have an OLD smartphone and use WhatsApp, now might be the best time to think about an upgrade.