One of the latest privacy-related WhatsApp features is disappearing messages. This feature is already available on Android and will soon roll out to iOS users.
It is rumored that this self-erasing feature will be tested in the Beta version of the app. But not for long as it will soon be included in the final version of iOS. Once you sign up for the beta testing 2.21.140.9, you can send photos and videos that will expire automatically after being viewed.
The feature is called “view once” and as you can see in the WABetaInfo’s screenshot above, it has a dedicated button that looks like a timer in the caption input field. Unlike WhatsApp messages, which disappear after 7 days, in “view once” mode, photos and videos that are sent will disappear as soon as you close them. Once the media has been viewed, a notification is sent to the sender.
As WABetaInfo notes, there is absolutely no way to prevent a user from taking a screenshot of the media, and you also won’t be notified if he or she did. As a recipient, you can’t block the sender from being notified after opening the message, either. “…so be careful when you use this feature,” WABetaInfo advises.
WhatsApp is promoting this feature as a way to push for more authentic and intimate chat messages. Parent company Facebook said it would block certain features for users who disagreed with the new privacy policy it previously shared, but will reverse that decision later.
