Whatsapp has introduced a new feature in its latest update. It is called the “view once” feature. Now, what is the “view once” feature? The “View once” feature is actually a very helpful feature. It allows a picture to be visible just once in the chat. This means that any picture or video sent through this “view once” feature will be available to the receiver only once. Earlier, the pictures or videos sent to a person got auto-saved in his or her gallery. But not now. Now, the pictures or videos sent through it are very secured. They do not get saved in the media gallery. It is very useful for people whose recipients are of the habit of taking screenshots of conversations. Now, with this “view once” feature in-store, no one can save an image or share it or even forward it to other people. It is very important if the image or video is of sensitive content like a wifi-password. Even if someone sends a picture of a dress to the other and waits for a surprise reaction, this feature is necessary.
Whatsapp adding this “view once” feature to its stable version is a big deal. It is similar to the disappearing or expiring media feature present in Instagram. In this feature, when you send a picture, it will disappear once the receiver opens the image and leaves the chat. Once the photo or video is opened, Whatsapp will not be able to show it again. Some sly people will think that after opening the image if he or she closes the conversation and marks it as “unread”, they will be able to reopen the image. But no. This is not the case. Once opened, it cannot be undone at any cost. This messaging application will not allow you to even star the pictures sent or received through the “view once” feature. If the recipient’s read receipts are turned on, the sender will understand if the media file has been opened by the receiver or not.
This Facebook-owned company has also stated that if the photo or video file is not opened within 14 days of being sent by someone, the media file will expire from the chat. Now there is something you need to know. If the media file is unread at the time of backup, you will be able to restore it during or after the backup. But if already opened, the media file will not be included in the backup and cannot be restored.
Here is how to use this “view once” feature:
Step 1: Open Whatsapp. Then tap on the attachment icon.
Step 2: Go to your gallery. Select the photo or video that you want to send to your recipient
Step 3: After selecting the media file, you will be able to see a clock-like icon in the “add a caption” bar. Click it to enable the “view once” feature.
Step 4: When you enable the feature, you will see a message from the app itself saying “Photo set to View Once”. This means that your work is done. Then click on the send option.
Now that you know how to use this “view once” feature, send disappearing pictures and videos to your contacts and enjoy!
