Despite Snapchat’s users continuing to grow year-on-year, it’s dying. Not really – it still makes more money than it makes sense, but from the zeitgeist’s point-0f-view, it’s slowly falling into a pit of obscurity. Apps and users have long known that Snapchat’s gimmick is easily replicable. Meta understands this the most – and it’s deciding to copy a feature that it should have added years ago.
According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp’s currently baked-in ‘View-Once’ feature is being expanded. For now, it’s limited to photos and videos, but that could apply to text soon, if the betas are to be believed.
WhatsApp, Dog?
WABetaInfo notes that the unofficial feature appeared on the latest WhatsApp 2.22.25.20 beta for Android.
Just like the current version of the feature, once a recipient has seen the message, it disappears into nothingness forever. They can’t be forwarded, saved, or replayed after the first time. We can assume that screenshots won’t be allowed either. Though it’s possible that functionality could roll out after the feature debuts – as the same happened when the original View-Once feature was added.
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Obviously, you need to be careful with what you send using the feature. WhatsApp can’t stop the recipients from taking a picture of the screen with a secondary device.
We’re not exactly sure yet how the feature will work, though we imagine it will run similarly to how it currently does for photos. It’ll be a toggleable feature that will probably be accessed through a pop-up when holding down your finger on a message. But we’ll have to see once it officially releases.
There’s no word yet on when the feature will hit the main versions of WhatsApp. If you’re on the beta program, you’ll either already have access or will soon. The fact that Meta has already launched the feature in beta means it’s not far away from a full launch.
Source: WABetaInfo