WhatsApp is testing a new self-destructing voice messages feature

WhatsApp is currently testing a View Once mode for voice messages as a “new layer of privacy” on the mobile app.

The feature works in the same way as the disappearing images and videos present on the platform. Meta just expands it elsewhere. According to WABetaInfo, a new icon with the number one will appear in the chat bar while you record a voice note with the lock enabled. Tapping this icon will enable View Once mode (well, it’s more like Listen Once), which prevents recipients from exporting, forwarding, saving, or recording messages. Once sent, you, the sender, cannot listen to it and the other person cannot replay it after the first time. It’s gone forever.

As WABetaInfo notes, this tool has the potential to effectively “eliminate the risk of your personal or sensitive information falling into the wrong hands.” Messages cannot be shared with people outside the initial chat room, greatly reducing the chance of “unauthorized access.”