WhatsApp may finally let you send that birthday message while you’re fast asleep
[post_content]
Disclaimer: This article has been automatically aggregated from
The number of late-night birthday messages that I’ve missed cause I lost track of time or simply fell asleep is probably in the triple digits. But WhatsApp’s upcoming update might be for someone like me. WhatsApp has started rolling out scheduled messages to a limited number of Android beta testers, months after the feature first appeared under development. The functionality is available in WhatsApp beta for Android 2.26.40.7, with WABetaInfo reporting that access should expand to additional testers over the coming weeks.
We already knew this was coming. Back in February 2026, we covered a report on WhatsApp developing scheduled messages. At that point, however, the feature wasn’t actually available to testers. Now people can finally use it.
It works exactly how you’d hope
Scheduling a message starts by pressing and holding the send button after composing it. WhatsApp then brings up an interface where you can select when the message should go out. The window stretches from 10 minutes into the future to two weeks ahead, which covers everything from “remind the group later tonight” to getting that birthday wish queued several days early.
WhatsApp currently supports scheduled text, links, photos, and videos. Media has one limitation, though. Only a single photo or video can be included in each scheduled message for now. Scheduled content remains end-to-end encrypted. Better still, your phone doesn’t need to be online when delivery time arrives. WhatsApp says the message will still be sent automatically even if the app is closed or the device is offline.
Nobody has to know you planned ahead
Scheduled messages will be housed in a dedicated section on the chat info screen, where you can review or delete them before they’re sent. Recipients aren’t told that a message was scheduled, and they also won’t get a notification if you quietly delete one before delivery. The recipient doesn’t need access to the scheduling beta either.
Group chats work too, with one interesting privacy safeguard. A scheduled message will only go to people who were members when you originally scheduled it. So anyone joining the group afterwards won’t receive it. We still don’t have a date for the stable rollout, so most WhatsApp users will have to keep remembering to press Send themselves for a little longer.
Related Coverage:
for informational purposes only. We do not claim ownership, accuracy, or liability for the content provided. All rights belong to the original publisher.