In December, WhatsApp enabled disappearing messages for all one-on-one chats by default. Users could start new individual chat threads with each message vanishing after a certain duration set within the app's privacy Settings. But that policy was only for new chats — what about the ones that have been going on for a long time? Turns out that a toggle could be coming for those conversations, too, and soon.

WABetaInfo has revealed that the default message timer feature will soon be extended to existing chats as well. The feature was surfaced in beta v2.22.11.11, but don't go expecting to find it yet as it is unfinished.

Screenshots show a new sub-prompt on the default message timer settings page which lets users link up to a list of existing chats where they can elect to apply message timers. The shortcut allows users to enable disappeearing messages after a certain length — 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days — for multiple chats simultaneously instead of having to toggle the feature on within each chat.

WhatsApp has been busy making itself look busy in the past week with plans to add up to 512 people in a single WhatsApp group and expand multi-device support to users' other Android devices. While it is certainly more popular than Signal and Telegram are by many factors, the Meta-owned platform looks to be playing catch-up with them in other ways.