WhatsApp wants to go even further with ephemeral messages by offering messages visible only once

Respect for privacy is a very important aspect lately, for the general public and therefore for the tech giants who must put in place dedicated measures in their products and services. In the instant messaging market, this notably takes the form of ephemeral messages. WhatsApp would like to go further with messages visible only once.

WhatsApp tests messages visible only once

Currently, WhatsApp allows you to send messages that disappear automatically. These are finally programmed to be erased after a certain time. But it also means that, during this period, the messages in question can still be viewed. That being said, the company would like to allow messages to be sent that are only visible once.

To transmit really sensitive information

According to an Android Police report, the latest WhatsApp beta introduces a feature called “view once”. In the examples shown, it is possible to send a message, such as a photo, and rather than previewing the photo, only the “Photo” message appears. When pressed, a message informs that this message, the photo in this case, can only be viewed once.

Once the photo is opened and viewed, and the window closed, the message will no longer be viewable. That being said, as Android Police points out, there is nothing preventing the user from taking a screenshot or photo of the content. The original “proof” will be deleted from your device. Which could be very useful in a number of situations.

In any case, this is a very interesting feature, a novelty that could give users a reason to switch from Snapchat to WhatsApp. Still, WhatsApp’s privacy policy is still very controversial.

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