We’ve brought you news of a broad range of WhatsApp privacy updates recently including an official post from Mark Zuckerberg himself outlining the details of a big privacy push for the world’s biggest online messaging app. Today, we can give you more details of a big part of that privacy push as we have learnt more details about WhatsApp’s upcoming screenshot blocking feature. Here is what you need to know.
WhatsApp is updating its view once feature for images and videos. The feature works a bit like Snapchat in that it allows users to send images and videos in their messages that the recipients will only be able to view once before they disappear. At the moment, however, recipients can grab these images using screenshots, therefore, overriding the utility of the feature. This is what WhatsApp is trying to address.
The new screenshot blocker is currently rolling out to WhatsApp beta users packaged into an updated view one feature. The screenshot above shows the feature introduction box, which will inform recipients that the photo they are looking at is private, and will disappear from the chat once they’ve viewed it, and that they won’t be able to share, forward, copy, save, or a take a screenshot of it.
This new and updated feature is still under development so we can’t give you any details about when it will receive a wider rollout to all users, but it is good to have an idea of what it will look like and how it will work when it lands on all versions of WhatsApp.
This news follows on from other recent WhatsApp privacy-related news stories including the incoming ability to hide your online status from other WhatsApp users and the ability to blur out elements in the images you share over the app.
Image via: WABetaInfo
