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.”
This update is available for both Android and iOS. If you want to try it out for yourself, Android users can join the Google Play Beta Program and install version 2.23.78 of the WhatsApp beta. iPhone owners can try joining the TestFlight program for WhatsApp. However, at the time of writing this, it is no longer accepting participants, although it is possible a slot could open up soon.
Become quiet
As for the future of WhatsApp, things will be a bit quiet. None of the other beta features are as impressive or notable as the self-destructing voice messages. Looking through WABetaInfo’s other posts, we saw that Meta is working on implementing avatar responses plus a redesigned one audio and video menu for iOS. Nothing really groundbreaking.
It’s not surprising that the platform is currently at a standstill, as 2023 was a great year for WhatsApp. There have been several major updates in the last ten months, from various quality of life changes to eight-person video calling in the Windows desktop app. And recently the company started testing one aI-powered sticker generator for chats. Maybe Meta is keeping its projects secret so it can start 2024 off in a big way.
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