WHATSAPP is pushing ahead with plans to let users EDIT their texts.
It means you’ll be able to quickly adjust messages that you’ve already sent to other WhatsApp users.
WhatsApp is working on a new trick to let you edit texts that you’ve already sentCredit: WhatsApp / WABetaInfo
Text-editing was leaked as a feature “under development” on phones back in June.
Then earlier this week, it emerged that the feature was being developed for WhatsApp desktop too.
Now app investigators at WABetaInfo are working on a system that updates the app when you receive an edited message.
Otherwise people using older versions of WhatsApp might not realise a text has been edited.
A new prompt will help users update to the latest version of WhatsApp when they receive an edited text.
Sadly there are still plenty of unknowns.
We don’t know if recipients will be alerted to an edit, or receive a log of what was changed.
It’s also unclear how long you’ll have to edit a message – it probably won’t be an unlimited timer.
And the biggest unknown is exactly when this feature will roll out to the general public.
WhatsApp is always competing with its Apple rival, iMessage.
And at Apple’s WWDC 2022 event earlier this year, Apple confirmed a huge iMessage update that’s now live.
The built-in iPhone messenger now lets you unsend texts – just like WhatsApp.
But the iOS 16 update also adds a text-message editor that will let you tweak missives up to 15 minutes after they’ve been sent.
That means iMessage has beaten WhatsApp to the feature.
If you want to try the latest WhatsApp features first, you can join the app beta.How to get WhatsApp beta
To download WhatsApp beta for your smartphone you need to go to Google Play on your Android and search for WhatsApp.
Scroll down the page until you see “Become a Beta Tester”.
Tap the “I’m In” button and then click “Join” to confirm.
Now all you have to do is wait for the update to the beta version of the app.
Joining the WhatsApp beta on iOS is more difficult, and has limited capacity.
Follow Apple’s guide here.How to edit texts on iPhone
Editing messages on WhatsApp might be a while away, but you can modify iMessage texts right now.
Not all iMessages can be tweaked or deleted: there’s a time limit.
You only have 15 minutes to make any changes to a text before the option runs out.
Simply hold down on the message to edit it.
Recipients will be alerted when a text has been edited.
However it won’t be possible to see exactly what changes have been made – unless you had previously seen the message and remembered what it said.
Also important is that both the sender and recipient will need to be on iOS 16 for the feature to work.
So even if you have iOS 16, you won’t be able to unsend or edit a text for a person who hasn’t yet upgraded.
You’ll receive a warning that some people won’t see your edits if this is the case.
For the feature to work, everyone needs to be running iOS 16.
To check if you have it, go to Settings > General > Software Update.
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