WhatsApp Android Beta 2.18.69 Lets Users Delete Messages After Over an Hour

WhatsApp’s long-requested and only recently introduced Delete for Everyone feature looks set to get an update. The most recent WhatsApp beta (v2.18.69) for Android now gives users up to 4,096 seconds (68 minutes and 16 seconds) to delete a message for everyone in a chat. Currently, in stable builds, the window a user has to delete a WhatsApp message for everyone is 420 seconds (or 7 minutes). Depending on how well it’s received, this extension can be expected to make its way to the stable build soon. It is also reportedly making its way to the iPhone app soon.

The change was first spotted by WABetaInfo, the WhatsApp update tracking site. The site notes that v2.18.68 WhatsApp beta version for Android includes an update to the Stickers features that disabled by default – a slight modification of its icon. Since the news was reported on Friday, WhatsApp has released two more beta versions for Android (v2.18.70 and v.2.18.71), and WABetaInfo has spotted new disabled-by-default features like Locked Recording (locking the voice message record button into place when recording), and sticker pack size display.

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Another feature WhatsApp was recently spotted in testing, but once again disabled by default, shows whether a message has been forwarded. The Forwarded Message label shows up on top of the message if it has been forwarded from another, or same chat. The move if nothing classifies forwards, and could be amongst the first steps to combat spam and fake news. The feature was spotted in WhatsApp beta (v2.18.67) for Android. The same version also brought Stickers to Android – but can’t be used.

SOURCE BY Techtends

WhatsApp Payments based on UPI will be limited to person-to-person.

WhatsApp’s Payment feature based on UPI, which is United Payments Interface, is already live for some users in the beta version of the app on Google Play Store as it has been reported earlier this week. However, WhatsApp’s payments feature will be person-to-person based, which means regular users will be able to make payments to each other. However, merchants or those registered as Business users on WhatsApp will be unable to receive payments, for now, indianexpress.com has learned. The company has officially declined to comment on when the feature will go live for all users.

WhatsApp Payments was recently spotted in both iOS and Android beta versions of the app and two publications: GizmoTimes and FoneArena had shared screenshots of the same. However, the feature was only limited to a few users and not all Android beta testers were able to see it. According to the leaked images which have been shared, WhatsApp’s Payments feature will appear as another attachment options to the current ones which include documents, photos, videos, etc.

The WhatsApp UPI-based payments will be peer-to-peer based. The app will also support a majority of the banks on the UPI platform.  WhatsApp rolling out payments in India based on UPI has been long awaited. The company was reportedly testing the feature all of last year. UPI as a platform allows for direct transfers from the bank account itself. A user requires a bank account linked with their mobile number, a UPI pin, and authorization PIN to carry out transactions.

The Facebook-owned app’s payments feature could be an important one for the Indian market. Rival Google already has a UPI-based payments app in the market called Google Tez, which according to CEO Sundar Pichai managed to get 7.5 million users in just five weeks of its launch. Tez was rolled out by Google last year in September.

WhatsApp though has over 200 million users in India alone and is the leading messaging app in the country. A payments feature on this could change how people interact with the app and add another important use case. Meanwhile, India’s leading mobile wallet player Paytm rolled out a chat feature last year, which many believed was in anticipation of WhatsApp’s upcoming payment feature.

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BENGALURU: WhatsApp could go live with its much-awaited payments feature as early as next month, according to people aware of the developments, providing the biggest boost yet for digital payments in the country.

The most widely used messaging app in India is at various stages of integrating its Unified Payments Interface (UPI)- based payments platform with State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, these people said.

“The platform is already in beta stage (testing) with one of its partner banks. We expect the product to go live for consumers by the end of February, depending on how the trials work out,” one of them said.

A banker too confirmed that WhatsApp is at various stages of system integration with banks. “We are doing security checks to ensure the safety of the data,” the banker said. The final step following security checks in the integration process involves testing the product among select users before it can go live.

The Facebook-owned messaging company received government approval to integrate with UPI in July, joining other global giants including Google that queued up to roll out their own versions of the instant payments facility that’s directly linked to banks. WhatsApp’s payments feature is highly anticipated because of the huge popularity of the app across diverse populations in India and its anticipated ability to bring a huge segment of the country within the digital payments ecosystem.

Bankers, however, say there are various security concerns that need to be addressed before the integration, especially with regard to data of bank customers.

Involves Many Levels of Encryption

“To be able to send money as easily as a text message involves ensuring various levels of encryption to keep the data safe,” said anot- her senior banker involved in the system integration process with WhatsApp. “UPI, by itself, also has a complicated settlement mechanism between various banking partners. These issues need to be attended to before the product goes live.”

WhatsApp will act as a top layer that will identify the sender and the recipient in the back-end. Since its payments platform will be integrated with banks, it will also identify the bank account of the customers. Finally, UPI will help settle the transactions.

UPI, which reported 145 million transactions in December, has emerged as one of the fastest-growing payments instruments since the demonetisation of highvalue bank notes in November 2016, mainly supported by the strong adoption of Google Tez, Paytm and Flipkart’s payments arm, PhonePe.

While Tez and PhonePe have crossed 10 million downloads each on Google Play Store, Paytm, known more for its digital wallets, has more than 100 million downloads. All these platforms are incentivising users to transact on their UPI platforms. WhatsApp, which has crossed 1 billion downloads globally, has more than 200 million monthly active users in India.

In China, mobile payments volume doubled to around $5 trillion in 2016 mainly driven by Alipay and WeChat Pay, a feature of the country’s largest messaging app. Tencent-owned WeChat has about 963 million monthly active users and Alipay about 520 million users. If India is going the China way in digital payments, it only shows the potential that app-based payments have in a country where smartphone penetration is growing rapidly and the central bank is promoting instant settlements in a major way.

Homegrown messaging platform Hike that went live on UPI in June reported 10 million financial transactions in November on a 100% month-on-month growth, highlighting the potential for WhatsApp’s payments feature. Hike, too, has more than 10 million downloads on Google Play Store.

“WhatsApp is expected to add stronger volume growth to the UPI platform,” said the first person quoted above. “Even if it starts off primarily with peer-to-peer transactions, if it manages to build a usage habit among its captive users, then taking UPI for merchant payments will not be a huge challenge.”

Source By:- Economictimes