Last year, Facebook introduced Vanish Mode to Messenger and Instagram, a feature that allows users to send ephemeral messages. Now, the company is extending the feature to WhatsApp, and it is already available in the app’s beta version.
The Vanish Mode in WhatApp has been dubbed “View Once”. Before you send a photo, video, or text, you have the option to tap on a little circle icon with the number one inside. That way, your message will automatically delete itself once viewed by the recipient. Additionally, you will receive a notification when your media has been opened.
However, there is a crucial caveat to take note of. Unlike Messenger’s vanish mode, if the person on the other end of the conversation decides to screenshot or screen record your message, you will not be notified. Unfortunately, in its beta WhatsApp still does not support screenshot detection. We will have to wait and see if it gets added.
There are also a couple of details in regards to disabling read receipts. Firstly, if read receipts are disabled, the person you’re chatting with will still be able to see whether you’ve opened View Once content. However, you won’t know if they have opened yours.
On the other hand, you will still have the ability to see who has opened your message in group chats despite having read receipts disabled. Another important detail for group chats to remember is that blocked users can open the photos and videos you send to them. You can view who’s looked at the content by going to “Message Info”.
View Once will work even for those who haven’t received it yet. Facebook hasn’t reported when View Once will graduate from the beta version to the stable one. Currently, it is available only on Android and will be introduced to iOS at a later date.