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Make your WhatsApp messages disappear by default

You can now turn on disappearing messages by default and pick whether you want a message to fade after one, seven or 90 days.

WhatsApp is adding more options to control your disappearing messages, the popular app announced Monday. You can now turn on disappearing messages by default for all new chats, and you can choose how long you have until the messages fade.

When you enable the feature, every one-on-one chat that you or someone else starts will be set to disappear after your chosen amount of time: 24 hours, seven days or 90 days. The app is also adding the option to turn on disappearing messages when you create a group chat.

The feature is optional and doesn’t alter or delete any of your existing chats, according to WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta. But when you have disappearing messages turned on, WhatsApp will display a message in your chats that tells people this is the default option you’ve picked.

Here’s how you can turn on disappearing messages by default for all new individual chats.

How to make your WhatsApp messages disappear by default

Whether you’re using WhatsApp on an iPhone or Android, turning on default disappearing messages seems to take just a few steps. According to WhatsApp’s help page about disappearing messages, after you open the app and go to Settings (it’s located in the bottom right corner of the screen), tap Account, then Privacy and finally Default message timer. From there you can turn on disappearing messages and select how long you would like to wait until messages fade.

WhatsApp stresses you should only use disappearing messages with trusted individuals. Although the app makes your messages vanish after a set amount of time, it’s possible the person you’re chatting with can forward, copy, save or take a screenshot of the message before it disappears.

WhatsApp introduced disappearing messages in November 2020. The feature originally worked for individual chats only, and the duration of time before the message disappeared was seven days. Earlier this year, WhatsApp added View Once, a feature that causes videos and pictures to vanish from a chat after they’ve been opened.

For more, check out how to declutter Facebook messenger without deleting chats and how to transfer your Facebook photos and posts to other platforms. If you want to delete more than your chat history, take a look at how to permanently delete your Facebook account and how to disappear from the internet for good.

Technologies

Why Amazon Is Giving Surprise Refunds for Years-Old Purchases (And If You’ll Get One)

Recent internal reviews at Amazon unleashed a wave of new refunds: Some are getting more than $1,000 back from purchases made up to 7 years ago.

Amazon buyers are reporting an influx of unexpected refunds from products they ordered months or even years ago, with one customer on LinkedIn saying he received a refund of $1,800 for a smart TV bought seven years ago. Others made similar comments about products bought long ago.

According to Bloomberg, the new refunds are because of changes Amazon made after an internal review. That review may be related to a 2023 consumer lawsuit by a group of Amazon shoppers who claimed that Amazon had reversed their legitimate return-related refunds. 

A representative for Amazon told CNET that only a small number of customers would be affected. 

«Following a recent internal review, we identified a very small subset of returns where we issued a refund without the payment completing, or where we could not verify that the correct item had been sent back to us so no refund was issued,» an Amazon representative said. «There is no action required from customers to receive the refunds, and we have fixed the payment issue.»

In its latest earnings call, Amazon reported a one-time expense of $1 billion connected to refunds that the company had not yet sent out. These earmarked funds could be responsible for the sudden updates that shoppers are now seeing regarding purchases as far back as 2018.

Read more: I’ve Been Tracking Tariff Price Impacts Every Day and Here’s What I’ve Found So Far

If you receive an email about a surprise refund from Amazon orders, it may be related to these changes Amazon has made behind the scenes. You may still want to confirm it’s not fraud by logging into your Amazon account or making a quick service call, especially if it’s a larger amount like a payment for a TV. Scammers may be taking advantage of this news, too, so be wary of any notification that asks you for financial information, which Amazon should already have.

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Expect Record Traffic for Memorial Day Weekend: 6 Money and Time Savers

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Technologies

Memorial Day Sale: Google’s Pixel 9 Series Has Up to $300 Off Right Now

Get the standard Pixel 9 or the more premium Pixel 9 Fold for less with these incredible Memorial Day deals.

Android users who want to upgrade to a shiny new phone are always going to be pleased if they check out the Google Pixel 9 lineup. Right now is a great time to pick one up too, because the Memorial Day deals are in full swing, and they can save you some serious cash.

In fact, right now you can get your hands on this line of phones with up to $300 off right now on Amazon, meaning you can get one for as little as $599. You can save even more money if you’ve got a phone to trade in and go with Best Buy too.

There is so much to love about the Pixel 9 series, including its sleek design, the impressive camera setup and even AI features such as the ability to search for content in screenshots, create images from scratch using Pixel Studio app and more.

Pricing varies depending on which model you choose, along with the exact configurations, but there are plenty of options for nearly everyone right now. As a rule, the base Pixel 9 lists for $799 — but right now you can save $200 and score yours for just $599. It’s also our pick for the best phone for Android purists.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.    

However, the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL also made the list as the top Google phones you can get. They retail for $999 and $1,099, respectively. However, you can get your hands on the 6.3-inch model for as low as $799 or the 6.8-inch model for as little as $899. Of course, if you’re looking for a foldable phone, you’ll enjoy the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. It typically starts at $1,799, but it’s down to as low as $1,499 right now — a whopping $300 discount. 

Why this deal matters

Right now you can save up to $300 off select Pixel 9 series phones at Amazon. The Google Pixel 9 series is chock-full of great options with a lot of features we loved, but that usually carries a large price tag. Saving up to $300 goes a long way, and as these prices are at record lows, we don’t expect the cost to drop any lower any time soon. Getting any of these phones at a discount is a great find, but these prices likely won’t stick around for long, so act fast if you’re interested.

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