Recall messages leaving no trace

Recalling e-mails are quite rampant these days. But what do you do if you have pressed the send button ‘by mistake’ on your instant messaging app? Normally,you would instantly send another message to the same person saying, “Sorry, it was not meant for you”.

 

To innovate, and to stay ahead of competitors in a crowded market, China’s WeChat, an instant messaging app by Tencent Inc, brings another first-of-its-kind feature that lets you to recall the last message you sent ‘by mistake’, within two minutes. Just long-press the message to activate a series of options and press ‘Unsend’. Unlike recalling of emails, here the message will disappear from both your chat screen and the recipient’s screen. And this works not just for a instant message but also for pictures as well.
 

And this is not the first time WeChat has introduced a new feature. The option of sending voice messages or audio files through instant chat messaging was also introduced by WeChat. And the popularity, obviously forced others, including the market leader Whatsapp, to add the feature.

 

While, this could be WeChat’s attempt to tap the ephemeral messaging space, currently dominated by Snapchat, the recall feature technically does not help WeChat in this. While WeChat mandates that you delete the message manually, messages sent on Snapchat are meant to disappear automatically. Besides, Snapchat also offers private messaging and video calls, which others are yet to adopt.

 

WeChat is not alone, Japan’s Line Corporation, the owner and operator of free call and messaging app LINE, has introduced ‘Hidden Chats’ as a feature that lets you send messages with a time limit attached to them. And the viewing time can be as little as just two seconds to a week. Probably a more useful feature that any instant messaging app has to date as LINE taps into the newest trend of private messaging.

 

However, there are some limitations. In a blog post, LINE has said that users can send text messages, stickers location info contact info and images as ‘Hidden Chat’, but not video files, voice messages, snap movies, albums and notes.

Exchanging sensitive or secret information has never been so easy. It could be a good option for the amature detectives, secret lovers, or even for the busy deal makers at the Street who may not like leaving a trail of their activities.