WhatsApp Status currently has over 450 million daily active users, while Snapchat has a little 188 million. This is despite the lack of features like AR selfie masks, animated GIFs, or personalized avatars like Bitmoji. Snapchat lost total daily users in Q2 and Q3 2018 and even in Q2.
However, Snapchat impressed the teens with disappearing chats where they can be free to be themselves. On the other hand, WhatsApp offers a permanent route where it only lets you send permanent photos, videos, and texts. There is an Unsend option, but it only works for an hour after a message is sent. However, Instagram, let’s you send both permanent and temporary photos and videos. Text messages are permanent by default, but you can unsend even old ones.
WhatsApp could build such a feature quite easily by adding a simple timer when people send media so photos or videos that can disappear after 10 seconds, a minute, an hour, or a day. However, there’s a possibility that WhatsApp might bring such a feature in the near future where it embraces the ephemeral messaging. The company might make texts easier to keep permanent or at least lengthening how long they last before they disappear. For now, though, these are just talks and might take months before something falls into action. Stay tuned.