Whatsapp has been in the crosshairs of many people since their privacy policy was changed last year. The company has since then tried its best to gain back its reputation with new and improved features to cater to all kinds of users.
WhatsApp has recently introduced — first in beta and now in stable — a new privacy feature, which should buy it some much-needed brownie points. Termed as ‘View Once’, this option in Whatsapp has been quite talked about and many people have been itching to get their hands on it. So what is the new ‘View Once‘ feature and what exactly happens when you use it? Let’s find out!
What is ‘View Once’ on WhatsApp?
View Once is a timed photo and video option in Whatsapp that allows you to share one-time photos and videos. The media files shared using this feature are deleted from the chat history and local storage, once viewed by the recipient.
This feature has been available in Snapchat since its release and has been one of its main USPs. Whatsapp’s inclusion of this feature is surely going to entice users that have been using Snapchat solely for this purpose.
But there are some privacy concerns when you consider both platforms. Let’s find out what happens when you use the ‘View Once’ feature.
Related: How To Send ‘View Once’ Only Photos and Videos on Whatsapp
What happens when you set a photo or video to ‘View Once’?
When you send a ‘View Once’ photo or video, the recipient receives it without any thumbnail; they only see it as ‘Photo’ or ‘Video’ with a green ‘1’ (View Once) symbol on the left of it.
Upon opening the file, the recipient will be notified that it is a ‘View Once’ photo or video share and will be able to view it only once on their device.
Additionally, just like any other WhatsApp message, you (the sender) will know when a is delivered and seen.
Once they (the recipient) have watched the media file and closed it, it will be shown as ‘Opened.’
Does WhatsApp notify you when someone screenshots or screen-records your View Once media?
But what happens when somebody tries to screenshot or screen record your shared file? Sadly nothing, Whatsapp does not have a screengrab detection feature which means that your ‘View Once’ shared files are still vulnerable to screenshots and screen records.
However since View Once is still in its early stages, we could see a detection feature in a future build. We shall keep this post updated in case anything turns up.
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