WhatsApp‘s most popular features in recent times is the message recall or ‘Delete for Everyone’ option that allows you to recall a particular message which has been inadvertently sent. Recently, we discovered that there is no time limit to recalling a sent message. Now, it has been found that the ‘delete for everyone’ feature can be easily surpassed. Here’s how you can still view a deleted message without rooting the device, or tampering with the app.

Currently, if you are on the latest version of WhatsApp for Android or iOS, you can delete or recall a message by tapping on the message and choosing the delete option. From here, you can decided to whether delete it for yourself or for everyone. When launched, it was reported that a user could recall or delete a message within 7 minutes of the message being sent. However, in our own tests, we found the limit can be easily surpassed.

When deleted, ‘This message was deleted’ message shows in the chat instead of the particular message. Now, this can be unnerving for some curious minds who want to know what exactly was the message which was deleted. It could even be for law purposes. For this, an app called ‘Notification History’ can help solve the mystery of a deleted message. We tested the process on an Android device and this is how it works.

Ensure you are running the latest version of WhatsApp on your device. Install ‘Notification History’ app from the Play Store and allow the required permissions to be able to read the deleted message. When you receive a message on WhatsApp, the Notification History app will show you a log of all the notification, along with the message. Interestingly, this app does not show a preview but the entire message. So there’s no scope of missing out on the details. If you tap on the log, you will be able to see the message. However, there is a limitation of characters. In our tests, a fairly long message, above 100 characters, was visible. This is in contrast to your device’s own notification settings where only a small portion of the text is shown.

Now, if the message is deleted from the sender’s end, the Notification History app will show you that notification as well, without deleting the previous message. So essentially, you get to know the exact time and content of the message, along with when it was deleted, all in sequential order, without you having to scramble through WhatsApp. 

It is worth mentioning that this workaround, which was first reported on Spanish website, androidjefe, is possible only on an Android device because, on this platform, WhatsApp only changes the alert’s content whereas, on iOS, it deletes the entire notification.

In addition to this app, you can also access the notification log by long-pressing the home screen, and then tapping on Widgets > Activities > Settings > Notification log. From here you can access the system’s notification log. On stock Android, the Settings widget can give access to the notification log.

{BGR}

Google released the developer version of Android Oreo 8.1 last month. With few weeks in beta, some hidden features are being discovered by developers. The latest discovery reveals a feature, which could help save space on your Android smartphones. Storage has been one major problem on smartphones especially with apps hogging space running in the background. Not only does this take up space, it also makes the smartphone slow or freeze while using it.

First reported by XDA Developers, a post on Android Open Source Project explains this space-saving feature that essentially works by downgrading inactive apps. According to the post, this feature will work when the smartphone is running low on space. Here, active apps are distinguished as those which were active in foreground and background, and also on other packages. As for inactive apps, the number of days till which it will be considered inactive will be determined by a system operator (sysop).

If these inactive apps are used again, then the system will run the same procedure again. Only those apps which are inactive will be targeted with this feature. It would take time before this feature lands up on devices as Android 8.0 Oreo is only starting to run on smartphones. As with most OS features, OEMs will have to manually enable this feature for their smartphones. Google is expected to release the stable version of Android 8.1 Oreo sometime in December.

Recently, it was discovered that Google is testing an SMS feature for Chromebooks and Pixel 2 smartphones. This allows Pixel 2 users to read and reply to SMSs on their Chromebook. However, it isn’t known if Google will release this feature with the stable build. Android 8.1 Oreo update also enables the Pixel Visual co-processor on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. More features discovered include managing wallpaper colors, better performance for low-RAM devices when running Android apps, among others.