Google Messages now allows you to delete sent messages for everyone. This joins the ability to delete a message from your screen. The feature, first spotted by Android Authority, is now rolling out to more users. The signs of this first surfaced earlier this year, in February. The ‘delete for everyone’ option is a great addition, especially if you want to unsend that one message you instantly regret sending.
Google Messages’ delete for everyone works over RCS
When you are having a conversation with someone in Messages, there’s now a choice between “Delete for me” and “Delete for everyone.” This appears when you highlight one of your messages and tap the trash can icon. This adds to the edit option, which has been available since May. Notably, you will have the option to delete a text for everyone, only if both parties are using RCS messaging.
Most instant chat apps like WhatsApp already offer a similar delete for everyone option. When you are deleting a message for everyone, Google warns that the recipient may still see the message if they are on older versions of the app that don’t have the delete option yet.
It appears there’s no time limit for deleting messages
The ability to delete a message doesn’t seem to have a time limit. ZDNET reports that the option was still there even after an hour. For comparison, there’s a 15-minute time limit to edit a message once you have sent it. There’s a “message deleted” notification present after you have deleted a message similar to the competition.
While you may be judged for deleting a sent message, it won’t be for the text that you felt like deleting, at least. It’s nice that Google is finally catching up with the modern-day features that have been there for a while.
