WhatsApp Launches View Once Photo And Video Feature Similar To Snapchat

This View Once feature offers users more control over the media they share. (photo: WhatsApp)

JAKARTA - WhatsApp has launched a new feature commonly found in privacy-centric messaging apps, where videos and photos can only be viewed once when received.

This View Once feature offers users more control over the media they share with others, allowing them to send sensitive content to others without having to stay in the chat forever.

“While taking photos or videos on our phones has become a big part of our lives, not everything we share needs to be a permanent digital record. On many phones, just taking photos means taking up space on your camera roll forever. That's why today we're launching new View Once photos and videos that disappear from chats once they're opened, giving users more control over their privacy."

Like private messages, View Once media is protected by end-to-end encryption. Photos and videos sent using this feature will have a "One Time" icon indicating that the photos and videos will disappear after being viewed by the recipient.

Photos or videos sent will also not be saved to the recipient's gallery, and users will not be able to forward, save, star, share images or videos sent and received using the View Once feature.

The sender can see if the recipient has opened the photo or video if read receipts is on. If the media is not opened within 14 days, it will expire.

While this feature provides greater privacy for sensitive content, WhatsApp notes that users should only send View Once photos or videos to people they trust, as it's possible that someone could take screenshots or record screen content.

But apparently, the View Once feature is not only owned by WhatsApp, Snapchat first has a similar feature. Likewise Instagram, a company owned by Facebook and a group with WhatsApp also launched the same feature on its platform a few years ago. Reportedly, the View Once feature will roll out to all users starting this week.