WhatsApp working on yet another ephemeral feature on iOS

A few weeks ago, a WhatsApp beta build revealed work on disappearing messages that vanish after they’re read. Now, WhatsApp is developing another ephemeral messaging feature. Here are the details.

View-once text messages underway

Last month, WABetaInfo reported that a WhatsApp beta build on TestFlight had added an “After reading” option to the app’s existing disappearing messages feature.

Currently, WhatsApp’s disappearing messages setting officially supports timers for 24 hours, 7 days, and 90 days. With the new option, which has yet to roll out broadly, users will also be able to set new messages to vanish after they’ve been read.

Now, WABetaInfo reports that WhatsApp is working on yet another ephemeral messaging feature.

Although it isn’t available to beta testers yet, the feature will let users send view-once text messages, expanding an option that is already available for photos, videos, and voice notes.

From WABetaInfo:

After typing a message in the chat bar, users will be able to set the view-once option by long-pressing the Send button. This action will present a dropdown menu with the option “Send as view once”. Once sent, the recipient can open the message once before it becomes inaccessible. The feature will be available in both individual chats and groups, making the experience familiar to anyone who has already used view-once for photos or videos. However, it won’t be available in channels, where the nature of broadcast communication makes ephemeral messages unsuitable.

According to WABetaInfo, the feature should be a welcome addition for users who currently work around the limitation by adding text to an image and sending it as view-once media.

The report notes that the feature “is currently in development, and it is not available for beta testing.” Still, it shouldn’t be long before at least some WhatsApp TestFlight users start getting access to it, paving the way for a broader rollout later on.

To read WABetaInfo‘s full report, follow this link.

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