WhatsApp's 'View Once' text messages feature is now available to beta users on Android

WhatsApp already lets its users send "view once" photos, videos, and voice messages that disappear after the recipient sees or hears them. The company has been testing view-once text messages for the past few months, and the feature is now available to beta users on Android.

This revelation comes from WABetaInfo, which reports that the view-once text messages feature is now available to some users on beta version 2.26.45.6 of WhatsApp for Android.

WhatsApp's view-once feature for text messages works the same way as it does for photos, videos, and voice messages. Once a user sends a view-once text message and the recipient reads it, it disappears from the recipient's device.

To send a view-once text message, type the text in the text box, press and hold the send button, and select "View Once." The first time you do this, WhatsApp shows information about view-once texts. Click "OK" to proceed.

Text sent as View Once doesn't automatically appear in the chat. You have to tap it to read it, and it opens in a separate interface. When the recipient closes it, they can't open it again. WhatsApp also marks the message as opened, so the sender knows the receiver read it, provided they enabled read receipts.

Once the message is opened, it's no longer available to the sender or receiver. It also cannot be copied, forwarded, or saved by the recipient. WhatsApp also blocks screenshots and screen recordings in the app while the recipient is viewing a view-once message, making it ideal for sharing sensitive information. However, someone can still use a camera to record the message's contents. Neither WhatsApp nor the sender can do anything about it.

That said, WABetaInfo reports that view-once text messages cannot be scheduled. Whether that changes by the time this feature rolls out publicly to all remains to be seen.

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