Facebook Messenger Could Be Getting Self-Destructing Messages

Is there a message you’d like to send to your friend but you don’t want it to stick around in the chat history? For example it could be your phone number, address, or other personal information that you would prefer if other people did not see. If you do, there are apps for that like Snapchat or BBM, but it looks like Facebook Messenger could be one of those options soon.

According to a recent tweet by @iOSAppChanges, they have shared a screenshot of what appears to be messages that can self-destruct/self-delete on Facebook Messenger. From what we can tell in the screenshots, Facebook is referring to them as “disappearing messages”, but essentially they sound like the same thing as other companies and apps are offering.

The screen also describes how by enabling this feature, your messages will disappear after 15 minutes of being sent. “You turned on disappearing messages. New messages will disappear from this conversation 15 minutes after being sent.” This is slightly different from what Snapchat and BBM are offering where messages are only deleted after they have been read.

Now it is possible that Messenger could mean the same thing, but from the wording it doesn’t sound that way. Unfortunately we have no idea when this new feature will be launched and if it will be iOS-only first, but either way we’ll keep our eyes peeled for more information.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Apps, Facebook, messenger, Privacy