WhatsApp rolling out disappearing 'View Once' photos and videos feature

WhatsApp is rolling out a new 'View Once' feature for disappearing images to all users on the app as a part of their policy to add new features regularly to the app in a constant endeavour to stay ahead of rivals.

This translates into very useful chat features being provided to users. These new WhatsApp chat features can add new functionality, tweak the interface or improve user privacy. Last month, the app started testing its upcoming multi-device feature for a limited number of beta users, while end-to-end encrypted backups were also tested for a short while.

Benefits of WhatsApp View Once feature:

We have previously reported that WhatsApp was beta testing the new View Once mode for images, on both iOS and on Android.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Facebook explained the reasoning behind the new feature. While the company does mention that the feature is aimed at improving user privacy by getting rid of messages after a certain period automatically, there's another reason why WhatsApp introduced this feature – keeping your phone tidy.

While taking photos and videos has become more commonplace simply due to mobile phones getting smarter, the company says that these images can take up space on your phones and clutter up your camera roll. This can lead to storage management issues later, where you might have to sift through hundreds or thousands of photos and videos and then remove them. These can be as innocuous as items on your grocery shopping list or clothes at the mall or something that is much more sensitive.

How WhatsApp View Once feature works:

On WhatsApp, if you send a disappearing message, you will get to see a 'View Once' icon on the media. When you receive the media, the preview won't show up. After you have viewed it once, you won't be able to open it again, just like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook Messenger.

"After the media has been viewed, the message will appear as "opened" to avoid any confusion about what was happening in the chat at the time," the company states.

In order to send someone a View Once photo or video on WhatsApp, you can use the app's camera to quickly snap a photo or video and then tap the (1) icon which will then send the media you just captured as View Once media. Once you send it, you will not be able to tap to open the image on your end and the recipient will only be able to view it once.

When will WhatsApp roll out View Once feature?

WhatsApp says the feature is coming to all users this week itself – so, if you haven't received it yet, it is only a matter of time before it rolls out to your device.