WhatsApp now lets you send self-destructing voice notes that vanish straight after they’ve been played

  • WhatsApp has launched a 'View Once' feature for self-destructing voice notes
  • These audio notes can only be played once, and disappear immediately after that

Whether it's sharing a juicy piece of gossip or reading your credit card details to a friend, you'll often want to share a voice note — but don't want to put it on hold.

Now, the days of quickly deleting your voice note are a thing of the past, thanks to WhatsApp.

The messaging app has launched the ability to send self-destructing “view once” voice notes.

As the name suggests, these audio notes can only be played once, and disappear immediately after that.

“You can now share sensitive information via voice messages with greater peace of mind,” WhatsApp said.

Whether it's sharing a juicy piece of gossip or reading your credit card details to a friend, you'll often want to share a voice note — but don't want to put it on hold. Now, the days of quickly deleting your voice note are a thing of the past, thanks to WhatsApp (Stock Image)

WhatsApp has launched the ability to send self-destructing 'View Once' voice notes. As the name suggests, these audio notes can only be played once, and disappear immediately after that

How to send a self-destructing voice note

1. Open the WhatsApp application, then open the chat you want to send it to.

2. Press and hold the microphone icon on the bottom panel, and start speaking.

3. You will now see a new '1' icon at the bottom of the screen – tap this and it will set the voice note to display at once mode. This means the recipient can only play it once, and cannot export, forward, or save it.

The Meta-owned messaging app first introduced the one-time view feature for photos and videos in 2021.

From today, the feature is also available for voice notes.

To send a View Once voice note, open the WhatsApp app, then open the chat where you want to send the message.

Click and hold the microphone icon on the bottom panel, and start speaking.

You'll now see a new '1' icon at the bottom of the screen – tap this and it will set the voice note to display at once mode.

This means the recipient can only play it once, and cannot export, forward, or save it.

However, you yourself will also not be able to listen to it.

“To be compatible with displaying photos and videos once, voice messages are clearly marked with a ‘one time’ icon and can only be played once,” WhatsApp said.

As with all of its messages, WhatsApp confirms that its View One voice notes will be fully encrypted.

The feature will be rolled out globally in the coming days.

The new feature comes shortly after WhatsApp launched the ability to set secret codes in private chats.

As the name suggests, the feature allows you to set unique passwords for chats, ensuring that they stay away from any prying eyes.

“We are launching a secret code, which is an additional way to protect those chats and make them more difficult to find if someone has access to your phone or you share the phone with someone else,” WhatsApp said.

The best alternatives to WhatsApp

If you are thinking about deleting WhatsApp, you will be happy to know that there are many alternative apps to choose from:

1. Telegram

With over 400 million users, Telegram is one of the most popular WhatsApp alternatives.

Although it is very similar to WhatsApp, what sets it apart from others is the fact that it offers the option to set messages to self-destruct after a certain period of time, without leaving any trace.

Telegram also offers end-to-end encryption.

However, as a WhatsApp spokesperson noted, Telegram “does not offer end-to-end encryption by default, so it is not necessarily more secure than WhatsApp.”

2. Signal

Signal is one of the most secure messaging apps, thanks to it being open source.

This means that the app code is available for the public to view, making it nearly impossible for the app creators to sneak in any backdoors that might allow governments or hackers to spy on your messages.

3. iMessage

If you're using an iPhone, you might consider simply switching to iMessage, Apple's own messaging app.

The app has a number of great features including no character limits, the ability to send photos and videos, and of course Apple's animated emoji feature, Animoji.

Unfortunately, iMessage is only available to iPhone users, so you will find it difficult to interact with anyone using Android.

4. Google Messages

Google's answer to iMessage is Google Messages, a messaging service that only works on Android.

The app replaces your standard SMS app, and integrates with all Google apps and services, making it easy to share photos or use Google Assistant.

5. Facebook Messenger

If you've been put off using WhatsApp because it shares data with Facebook, Facebook Messenger may not be the best option for you.

However, the app offers a number of useful features, including games, secret chats, and video calls.

(Tags for translation) Daily Mail

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