WhatsApp is working on viewable one-time text messages

WhatsApp works with viewable one-time text messages. Functionality similar to the existing photo and video.

In November 2020, WhatsApp finally decided to add a long-awaited privacy feature: ephemeral messages. Although they were originally limited to a fixed duration (disappearing after 7 days), WhatsApp later extended this feature so that users could make them disappear after 24 hours or 90 days. Today she goes further.

WhatsApp is working on viewable one-time text messages

Today, according to WABetaInfo, the company is working on, so to speak, an extreme version of this option: a message that can only be seen once and only once before it disappears, for both the sender and the recipient.

This new feature has been integrated into the latest Android app beta 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 for photos and videos; now it just extends to text messages. When you send a one-time photo or video for review, the person on the other end cannot take a screenshot; the same should be true for messages only visible once.

Functionality similar to the existing photo and video.

For photos and videos, this option is activated by selecting the photo or video to send and clicking the “i”icon in the circle to the right of the text input field. Text messages currently have a dedicated send button with a lock, but the final design may change after the feature leaves beta.

Since this feature is currently in beta version of WhatsApp, it’s reasonable to assume that it will arrive in a future public update, but no one knows exactly when that will happen.

View-only messages are especially useful when you want to share something that shouldn’t be visible to 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, such as by taking a picture of their phone screen.