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Messenger is getting vanish mode, like Instagram and WhatsApp

New features that unite the apps signal Meta’s continued push at integrating WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger.

The Meta logo displayed on a sscreen above a smartphone showing a collection of reaction emoji

Meta announced a slew of updates to Messenger on Wednesday.

Photo: Fritz Jorgensen/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus

In the tech giant’s latest step to unify its messaging platforms, Meta’s Messenger is making your DMs disappear.

The Facebook parent company announced a slew of updates to Messenger on Wednesday which includes “Vanish Mode,” which allows your messages to disappear after they’ve been seen. The addition makes Messenger the last of Meta’s big messaging apps to add a disappearing messages function: Meta-owned Instagram and WhatsApp both already have this feature, both adding it in late 2020. Vanish Mode for Messenger is the latest signal of the company’s continued push to unify its platforms and standardize their features.

Reports emerged in 2019 that Meta was planning to integrate its messaging apps, unifying their infrastructure but allowing the platforms to continue to operate as standalone apps. The company also aims to feature end-to-end encryption throughout the system. The infrastructure merger, which reportedly began in mid-2020, may help Meta compete with Apple’s iMessage, as the company’s messaging apps serve billions combined.

Meta has owned Instagram since 2012 and WhatsApp since 2014. Messenger became its own app outside of Facebook in 2011.

Nat Rubio-Licht

Nat Rubio-Licht is a Los Angeles-based news writer at Protocol. They graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in newspaper and online journalism in May 2020. Prior to joining the team, they worked at the Los Angeles Business Journal as a technology and aerospace reporter.

messengerwhatsappinstagramdmfacebookmark zuckerbergencryptionmeta
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