Facebook Is Testing An Unsend Feature For Messenger

Facebook is reportedly testing a feature that will let you take back what you send via Messenger. The company said it was working on the feature back in April after TechCrunch caught it deleting messages from CEO Mark Zuckerberg. After TechCrunch asked Facebook about its progress on the Unsend feature, the company said: "Though we have nothing to announce today, we have previously confirmed that we intend to ship a feature like this and are still planning to do so." From the report: Now we have our first look at the feature thanks to TechCrunch's favorite tipster Jane Manchun Wong. She's managed to generate screenshots of a prototype Unsend button from Facebook Messenger's Android code. Currently, you can only delete messages from your own inbox -- they still remain in the recipients' inbox. But with this Unsend feature prototype, you're able to remove a message from both sides of a conversation. However, the code indicates that in the current prototype there's a "time limit." That may mean users would only have a certain amount of time after they send a message to unsend it. That would essentially be an editing window in which users could take back what they said.

Doesn't work

[SCVonSteroids]

The moment a snapshot is taken, it's cemented in the interweeds foreva.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Like Snapchat. It's just a feature that will make people *THINK* they can erase data, but in reality, it's complete bullcrap.

APKs dad agrees

[Anonymous Coward]

Once you nut, you get an autistic APK and can never go back

Re:

[nukenerd]

The moment a snapshot is taken, it's cemented in the interweeds foreva.

Ah, but it's marked as "Unsent", so people will avert their eyes. It will look something like this :-

Zucherberg is a PoS! [UNSENT]

The Feds are ...

[CaptainDork]

... gonna want an unsend undo because terrorism.

Maybe they should work on an unhack feature?

[JoeyRox]

That takes back users' private data stolen by hackers?

useless

[techm]

Once the other party sees those words, they know they saw them. "Taking them back" doesn't work. It's called responsibility for what you say, or in other words - adulthood.

Cher

[rossdee]

"If I could turn back time"

Any chance of getting "unsend" for Twitter too?

[Jeremi]

... asking for a friend who is out $20,000,000.

Unsend only before it has been read.

[rundgong]

Messenger shows you when it has been read by the other party. If they can make it so it doesn't show up in any "previews" like the notification bar before it has been really read, then it would be useful with unsend until that point.
Once it's been read unsend has very limited use.

Fresh old ideas

[helpfulcorn]

AOL also had an unsend feature for mail so long as the other end was an AOL customer. Tech really is like the film industry or fashion, it just repeats over and over, just with minor variation. I imagine there's plenty of other services that had this way back when or even now I'm sure.

As an aside, I often wondered how many people sent something regrettable to a non-AOL customer and expected to see that unsend button yet it was not to be found.

Another brick on the path to laziness

[chrism238]

Yet another feature that removes the need to think before sending.

Sounds dangerous

[Tonis F. Piip]

This worries me,l. While I like the idea of editing or deleting the last sent message I have a strong feeling that this will be more powerful then that. They've already proven that they're willing to rewrite history by deleting Zuckerbergs messages. If there's a time limit, I can't help but think that for when they want to, higher ups will be able to delete and edit what's in your chat history.

What they need

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

What Facebook needs is a one-button "Delete my account and all my data" button, with a single confirmation dialog box.

Recall message

[bugs2squash]

Outlook handled that feature badly, it makes me want to read an email more when I get a message saying that the sender wants to retract it.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion