WhatsApp begins rolling out Snapchat-like ‘View Once’ feature for photos, videos: Everything to know

Users in India would not have to wait to get the feature, at least not a lot.

WhatsApp has now introduced a Snapchat-like ‘View Once’ feature for sharing photos and videos. This feature, which already exists on sister platform Instagram, would let the recipient view a photo or video only once before it would disappear from the chat. WhatsApp began rolling out the feature initially to iPhone users with a new update on Tuesday, but then announced that it would be rolled out for all users, including those using the app on Android devices. The ‘View Once’ feature has been under testing for quite some time.

However, though the photo or video would disappear from the chat once it has been viewed by the recipient, the feature would not stop the recipient from taking a screenshot of it or screen recording it, and if this is the case, the sender would not be notified of a screenshot or screen recording.

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Users in India would not have to wait to get the feature, at least not a lot. Financial Express Online checked and found that the feature was available for iOS users in India already – version 2.21.150 – and this means that the update would be available for Android users on Google Play Store soon. At present, the last update that WhatsApp sent out for Android was issued on July 19 without this feature, but considering the fact that iOS users have already received it, Android users can also expect to see this feature some time soon. In fact, some reports have suggested that some Android users have already started to get the feature.

Once the feature is available, users would be able to use it by selecting a picture or video from the gallery or after clicking a picture or video using the in-app camera, and then clicking on the ‘1’ icon that appears on the right side of the caption bar. The media sent using this feature would not be saved in the gallery of the recipient, though they would still be able to take a screenshot, and once viewed, the recipient would not be able to see it again. Not only that, but any media sent using this feature would not have the option of being forwarded, saved, shared or starred, and the sender would only be able to see if the recipient has opened the media if the read receipts of both the participants are on.

Not only that but any ‘View Once’ media that is not opened by the recipient would expire in 14 days of the sender having sent it.

Moreover, the ‘View Once’ feature would have to be selected every time a user wants to send a media using it, and any ‘View Once’ media sent using this option could be restored from the backup if it were unopened when the backup was taken. On the contrary, opened media would not be included in the backup.