WhatsApp lancia una nuova feature molto interessante, che richiama quella già usata da Snapchat: foto e video potranno essere visti solo una volta
Veronica Nicosia Giornalista scientifico
Laureata in astrofisica, giornalista scientifico e content editor SEO, scrive di tecnologia per magazine online e carta stampata. Nel 2020 approda a Libero Tecnologia
La nuova funzione presto in arrivo su WhatsApp si chiama View Once, letteralmente "visto una volta", e spiega già il suo potenziale. Photos and videos, just like on Snapchat, will disappear after being viewed just once.
To confirm the arrival for Android devices of what seemed just a rumor are on the other hand the owner of WhatsApp, Mark Zuckerberg, and the CEO of the messaging app Will Cathcart. So it seems that the new feature will arrive very soon in the testing phase for Android users, along with many other new features on which developers have been working for months. They range from multi-device mode to be able to use the messaging app on 4 other devices when the phone is disconnected, to the ability to play back a voice before sending it. All of these features are currently being tested, but are getting closer to enriching the app's offerings and countering concerns about the new privacy policy that had diverted users to rivals Signal and Telegram.
WhatsApp imitates Snapchat: what is View Once
The name of the new feature is a whole program. View Once means that photos and videos will only be viewable once by the recipient, and then disappear from the chat immediately after the recipient closes them. The sender, on the other hand, will receive a notification that the media content has been opened.
View Once still has limitations, especially for privacy, compared to similar features in other apps. If the user disables read confirmation, the recipient will still see when View Once photos and videos are opened, as well as those received and opened are reported to the sender.
Unlike Telegram's pop-up messages, the recipient will be able to take screenshots of the photo or video before it disappears, without WhatsApp sending notifications to the sender. View Once photos and videos will then be shareable in groups and you can see who opened them from the Message Info. In addition, sending photos and videos View Once in a group where there is a blocked user, this will still be able to see the content.
In recent months we had heard of "expiring media", just like rival Snapchat, but now we get into the swing of things with the first phase of testing for Android devices. If someone who has already received the feature will send a View Once content, the recipient will be able to view it only once, even if the sending feature is not yet available for him.
WhatsApp: how to see if View Once is available
There is a way to check if you are among those who have received the rolling out of the new feature. After updating the WhatsApp app to the latest available beta version, when you share a photo or video in a chat it will also appear next to the Send button with a small "1" with a timer around it. Selecting the new button will set up the View Once feature and let you try it out.
At the moment, the feature is available for the latest version of WhatsApp Beta, which can also be downloaded from the Google Play Store, while other Android and especially iOS users will have to wait longer to try it.