WhatsApp may soon let you send view-once text messages on iPhone

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WhatsApp already lets you send photos, videos, and voice messages that can be opened only once. Now, the same idea appears to be coming to text messages on iPhone.

According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is working on a view-once option for text messages in its iOS app. The feature is still under development, so it is not available to regular users or beta testers yet.

If it ships as currently spotted, the flow should be simple. After typing a message, users will be able to long-press the Send button and choose “Send as view once.” The recipient can open the message once, after which it becomes inaccessible.

It also lines up with a privacy direction WhatsApp has been circling for a while. The app has already tested features that could delete messages after they are read and give users a more private Incognito Chat for WhatsApp and Meta AI.

How view-once text messages would work

WABetaInfo says the option will work in individual chats and groups. It will not be available in channels, which makes sense because channels are built for broadcast posts rather than private, temporary exchanges.

The privacy protections also look similar to WhatsApp’s existing View Once system. The report says recipients will not be able to copy, forward, share, screenshot, or screen-record view-once text messages inside the app.

That does not make the message impossible to save. Someone could still take a photo of the screen using another device. Still, blocking the usual in-app actions would make quick forwarding and casual saving harder.

This is different from disappearing messages

WhatsApp already has disappearing messages, but that feature works more like a timer for chats. You can set messages to disappear after a period of time, such as 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days.

View-once text messages would be more direct. Instead of changing the whole chat’s message timer, you could send one sensitive line that disappears after the recipient opens it.

That could be useful for things like a temporary passcode, a private address, a one-time note, or any short message you do not want sitting in a chat history. Until now, users who wanted this behavior often had to put text on an image and send that image as view-once media.

WhatsApp has not announced a rollout yet

WhatsApp officially extended View Once to voice messages in 2023, after earlier offering the feature for photos and videos. Bringing the same control to plain text would make the feature feel more complete.

For now, though, this is still a beta finding, not an official launch. WhatsApp has not announced when view-once text messages will arrive on iPhone or whether the feature will change before release.

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