You may be able to send self-destructing images in WhatsApp soon

Ever send a pic on WhatsApp that you would only want the receiver to see? No judgement here. We don’t want pictures of our adorable dog clogging up phone galleries all over the place either. 

WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging app, is apparently working on a feature that will allow users to send images and video that self-destruct. This is according to a report on WABetaInfo, along with screenshots that illustrate how the feature would work. 

It doesn’t look like users will be able to set a time limit or expiration date on the self-destructing media, but rather that media will automatically vanish once the reader has seen it and left the chat. Like a sneaky ninja, the report claims that images that have expired won’t even leave a message like ‘This media has expired’. It’ll be gone without a trace of ever existing. 

One thing we’re not completely convinced of, however, is how WhatsApp will handle the very real possibility of the reader simply making a screenshot of the self-destructing media. If the picture/video was something on the risque side, the sender would want to know whether the sender will hold onto it. Well, the WABetaInfo report doesn’t clear this up. So we’ll be watching closely to see how WhatsApp will implement screenshot notifications in case this feature rolls out. 

So even though no one knows whether the feature will make it to the masses, or when, we know that the feature has been submitted to the Google Play Store. So it may just roll out as a test to a selected group of users. Either way, don’t screenshot without consent.