Since last year August, Whatsapp has allowed users to send “View Once” pictures and videos that disappear from the chat after the recipient has opened them.
In a blog post, the Meta-owned platform hinted that “not everything we share needs to become a permanent digital record.” On many phones, simply taking a photo means it will take up space in your camera roll forever, hence the need for a feature like this, which automatically gets deleted from your device once it has been opened.
Few days ago, WABetaInfo, a platform that provides real-time updates about upcoming WhatsApp features, reported the Instant-messaging service is expanding the “View once” feature beyond just pictures and videos to text-based messages.
According to WABetaInfo, the feature was seen in the most recent beta version of the Android app for WhatsApp, suggesting that users may soon be able to send text-based messages that can only be viewed once before they delete completely from the chats.
It works exactly the way “View once” pictures or videos does – no difference – and it’s helpful for sharing sensitive information that you don’t want the recipient to have continuing access to, such as a password or credit card details.
Screenshots will also be blocked, making it impossible for recipients to keep a version of the sent message. It also deletes the messages from the recipient’s phone for added privacy once read.
Where can you find the View Once Text feature?
According to WABetaInfo, there is a new special button placed next to the chat bar. If you look (screenshot below) at the send button carefully, you can notice there is a lock symbol within the button. To make a message a view once text, you must click on that button to activate it.
What this implies is that users will start to see the new special button “in the future update of WhatsApp beta for Android,” says WABetaInfo.
“Note that, since this feature is under development, the layout of the view once text bubble and the send button may change before the release.”
To use view once, WhatsApp advised that you please update the app to the latest version available for your device, and also take note of the following;
- Media will not be saved to the recipient’s Photos or Gallery.
- Once you send a view once photo or video, you won’t be able to view it again.
- You can’t forward, save, star, or share photos or videos that were sent or received with view once media enabled.
- You can only see if a recipient has opened a view once photo or video if they have read receipts turned on.
- If you don’t open the photo or video within 14 days of it being sent, the media will expire from the chat.
- You must select view once media each time you want to send a view once photo or video.
- View once media can be restored from backup if the message is unopened at the time of back up. If the photo or video has already been opened, the media will not be included in the backup and can’t be restored.
