WhatsApp, a popular instant messaging app owned by Facebook, had rolled out the view once or disappearing media feature for Android and iOS users on its platform after taking inspiration from popular social media apps like Snapchat, Signal, and Instagram.
This view once feature allows WhatsApp users to send the videos and photos in the chats, which a person can view for only a single time before it disappears. Basically, this feature automatically deletes a video or photo after the recipient has opened it.
These are the media (photos or videos) which you cannot download on your iOS and Android device. When a user sends you a view once media, it will visible only once and you can not access it again.
You can send the view once photos or videos using your Android as well as iOS devices. If you want to know how to send view once media. Below is the step-by-step guide to send it.
How to send View Once pictures and videos on WhatsApp
- Firstly, update WhatsApp to the latest version from App Store or Google Play Store.
- Now, open WhatsApp on your smartphone and open any chat.
- Click on the paper clip or the camera icon for sending the media.
- Select a photo or video which you want to send to that user.
- Now, when you select a media, you will see a small circle with 1 written inside it right after the ‘Add a Caption‘ option.
- Click on the 1 circle and the View once media will enable.
- Now, send the media, and the media will be sent with 1 circle.
- After sending the view once media, select the message and swipe right.
- When you swipe right, it will show you whether the message has been opened by the recipient or not.
- This feature will also work on the group chats. You just have to follow the above-mentioned steps for sending it to groups.
- Now after sending the media, select the message and swipe right to see which of the group members have opened the media.
- You can also disable the feature by tapping on the 1 circle.
If the recipient does not open the view once message for 14 days, the media remains on the chatbox for these days. However, after the completion of 14 days, the media will expire automatically. WhatsApp has said that the view once media is protected by end-to-end encryption so even WhatsApp cannot see them.
About WhatsApp View Once Feature
WhatsApp said that, For the added privacy, users can now send photos and videos that disappear from your WhatsApp chat after the recipient has opened them once.
Here are some key points to note about the View Once media feature of WhatsApp.
- The media you sent will not be saved to the recipient’s Gallery or device.
- Once you send a view once photo or video, you will not be able to view it again.
- You can not forward, save, or share photos or videos that were sent or received with the view once media.
- You must select view once media each time you want to send a view once photo or video.
- Sender can only see if a recipient has opened a view once media if they have turned on read receipts option.
- If the recipient does not open the photo or video within 14 days of it being sent, the media will expire from the chat.
- View once media can be restored from backup if the message is unopened at the time of backup. If the photo or video has already been opened, the media will not be included in the backup and can not be restored.
Is View Once Feature Safe?
WhatsApp has also cautioned the users that the view once is not entirely safe. This means that the recipient is still able to record the screen and take screenshots for recording the view-once media. The copies of the media can be created, so the users should always be beware of this thing.
