(Image source from: Dnaindia.com)

WhatsApp is one of the most advanced messaging apps, but it has never permitted all its users to set up messages to be sent at a future time. However, this might change soon. According to WABetaInfo, a new TestFlight beta version of WhatsApp for iOS has a feature called Scheduled Messages. Right now, this feature is not active, even for those testing it. Once it becomes available, it will let you write a message in a chat and choose a particular date and time for it to be sent later. That message will be saved until the chosen time, and you can easily change or delete it if needed. An image shared by WABetaInfo shows this option in the Chat Info section of either a group chat or a one-on-one conversation. The screen displays Media, Links, and Docs, followed by Starred messages, and then Scheduled Messages. In the illustration, it indicates that there are two messages waiting to be sent, as seen by the number two on the right side.

Some users might want to plan messages to serve as reminders or to share important information for the recipient to see later. For instance, if you want to remind someone about an event that's coming up, you could set a scheduled message to go out when you first invite them, so you remember to do it. There are other tools, like Apple’s Shortcuts automations, that can schedule messages on platforms such as WhatsApp, but the company itself has never offered something like this in its app until now. This is the first time Meta has displayed this feature. You can also schedule messages with Business Broadcasts, but that requires payment, unlike this new option. It’s unclear whether the message scheduling function will actually make it to WhatsApp’s final version; beta versions sometimes have experimental features that never become available to everyone. We will have to wait and see if this feature is included in the final release.