WhatsApp appears to be working on a new privacy feature that could make sensitive conversations a little harder to preserve. According to WABetaInfo, the messaging platform is developing support for view-once text messages on iPhone, allowing users to send messages that disappear after being read once.
The feature is still under development and is not yet available to beta testers. However, its arrival would extend WhatsApp’s existing view-once functionality beyond photos, videos and voice notes, bringing the same treatment to plain text messages.
There is currently no official timeline for the rollout but it’s a change that feels overdue. While WhatsApp has spent years expanding its privacy toolkit, users who wanted to send temporary text had to rely on workarounds, such as sending a screenshot containing text as a view-once image.
How view-once text messages could work
According to WABetaInfo, users will be able to activate the feature by long-pressing the Send button after typing a message. A new “Send as view once” option will then appear. Once sent, the recipient will only be able to open the message a single time before it becomes inaccessible. The feature is expected to work in both individual and group chats, though not in channels.
WhatsApp is also planning to apply the same protections already used for view-once media. Recipients will reportedly be unable to copy, save, forward or share the message. Screenshots and screen recordings will also be blocked within the app.
Of course, no privacy feature is completely foolproof. Someone could still use a second device to photograph the screen, but WhatsApp appears to be trying to make saving or redistributing these messages as difficult as possible.
View-once text messages help close a noticeable gap in WhatsApp’s existing feature set. The company already supports end-to-end encryption, disappearing chats and view-once media. Extending similar controls to text creates a more consistent experience across different types of content.
For users, the feature could be useful when sharing temporary passwords, one-time codes, personal details or information that doesn’t need to remain visible in a chat history. At the same time, it is unlikely to replace disappearing messages entirely, since view-once messages are designed for content that should vanish immediately after being read.
