South Korean IT giant Kakao has extended the time limit for deleting messages on its popular messaging app KakaoTalk from five minutes to 24 hours, the company said Wednesday.
In group or multi-user chats, the identity of the person who deleted the message will no longer be visible.
“We have significantly improved the message deletion feature to ease the pressure of conversations and foster smoother communication,” a Kakao spokesperson said.
First introduced in 2018 to help users correct sending mistakes, the feature previously allowed deletion of both read and unread messages within five minutes of sending. Under the update, any type of message — including text, images, videos and emojis — can be removed within 24 hours.
Kakao has also changed how deleted messages appear. Instead of a speech-bubble format indicating the sender, they will now be shown in a feed style, hiding the sender’s identity in group chats.
The update is available in the latest version of the KakaoTalk app and will be rolled out gradually depending on device and operating system, the company said.
The messenger giant has been steadily adding new features. In March, Kakao increased the maximum number of images that can be sent at once from 30 to 120.
herim@heraldcorp.com
