WhatsApp first launched the “view once” feature all the way back in 2021, though at the time it only supported photos and videos. This was then extended to voice messages at the tail end of 2023. And now, it looks like the messaging platform is extending it to good old text messages.
This comes via WABetaInfo, which says that the feature is still under development at the Meta subsidiary. Signs of it were present within the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.26.22.7 update, with the report showing screenshots of the feature in action, at least on the sender’s side of things.
To send a message that can only be viewed by the recipient once, you type in your text message as usual, then hold down the send button. The report says that you’ll then be presented with a dropdown menu, and one of the options is “Send as view once”. Once that is sent, the message will have the same “one-time” icon attached to it as the feature does when sending other forms of messages. Once viewed, it should show something similar to the “Opened” label for “view once” images and videos.
On that note, the “view once” option for WhatsApp text messages should also benefit from the other security features that were previously added. The list includes screenshot blocking – a surprisingly late addition – as well as preventing shares and forwarding of the message. Of course, there’s still nothing stopping the recipient of taking a photo of the message instead.
According to the WABetaInfo report, the “view once” option on WhatsApp text messages is not available even for testers just yet. It’s unclear when beta testers will get access, and this naturally means that it will take that much longer before it hits the general user base.
(Source: WABetaInfo)
