WhatsApp works on viewable one-time text messages. A functionality similar to that existing for photos and videos.
In November 2020, WhatsApp finally decided to add a long-awaited privacy feature: ephemeral messages. While these were originally limited to a fixed duration (disappearing after 7 days), WhatsApp later extended the feature to allow users to make them disappear after 24 hours or 90 days. She go further today.
WhatsApp is working on viewable one-time text messages
Today, according to WABetaInfo, the company is working on an extreme version, so to speak, of this option: a message that can only be seen once and once before it disappears, both for the sender than for the recipient.
This new feature is integrated in the latest beta version of the app Android, version 2.22.25.20. Once such a message is sent, the recipient cannot share or forward the message.
Note that WhatsApp already has this feature in place for photos and videos; it now simply extends to text messages. When you send a viewable one-time photo or video, the person on the other end can’t take a screenshot; the same should be true for messages visible only once.
A functionality similar to that existing for photos and videos
For photos and videos, this option is enabled by choosing a photo or video to send and tapping the “i” icon in a circle to the right of the text input box. For text messages, there is currently a special send button with a padlock, but the design final might change once the feature is out of beta.
Since the feature is currently operational in the beta of WhatsAppwe can reasonably expect that it will appear in a future public update, but no one knows precisely when this will happen.
View-only messages are especially useful when you want to share something that shouldn’t be seen by anyone other than the intended recipient. But while they are indeed better than traditional messages when privacy is key, remember that the recipient can always keep a copy, by taking a picture of the phone screen, for example.