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Image: Meta |
WhatsApp has now officially extended its view once feature to voice messages. Back in November 2021, the "View Once" feature was introduced for videos and photos only, but now, the meta-owned giant messaging platform officially rolled out this update globally for voice notes. This is just an addition of a security layer.
This new update will allow users to send one-time voice notes which will disappear after the recipient hears it. We first saw a glimpse of this feature a month ago in the beta version. In the official release notes, the messaging company shared some examples of scenarios in which users might want to use this feature, such as sharing some sensitive information 一 planning a surprise, or when you want to share credit card details with your friend for accessing only once.
say it once, play it once ☝️ now you can select “view once” when sending a voice note for an added layer of protection 🔓 pic.twitter.com/xVWcuBLfI4
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) December 7, 2023
WhatsApp continues to fulfill its promise about encryption, having such end-to-end encryption of backups on Google Drive, now, voice messages are also end-to-end encrypted like typical "View Once" media photos and videos. The View Once voice notes will be clearly marked with a "one-time" icon which differentiates from standard voice messages and alerts the recipients about the one-time hear restriction.
Important things to know about View Once Voice messages
- There are still many ways to save your View Once voice messages, so only send sensitive messages to people you trust.
- Recipients can take a photo from another device before it disappears, so it shows that recipients are still able to save it after vanishes.
- WhatsApp stores these encrypted messages in its database for a few weeks, so it suggests that the company still has its copy after the disappearance.
- If a recipient reports your view once voice messages to WhatsApp, the company will see your voice and media messages.
- Android user recipients can record your view once voice messages with using a native screen recorder, even after the disappearance.