WhatsApp disables ‘view once’ messages on desktop clients: Here’s why

WhatsApp is a popular messaging service that also allows users to make voice/video calls, store documents and more on mobiles as well as desktops. The Meta-owned instant messaging platform supports ‘view once’ messages that disappear after the recipient has seen the text message or media files like photos, videos and documents. Now, a report says that WhatsApp is planning to make some more changes to improve the security of this feature on the desktop version.
WhatsApp disables ‘view once’ messages on desktop
According to a report by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is adding a new feature for its desktop users that will block them from sending and opening view once messages on the service’s web clients. Currently, the company is testing this feature with some beta users and is expected to reach all users with a wider rollout in the upcoming days.

The report has also shared an image showing that ‘view once’ messages cannot be opened on any desktop apps which include WhatsApp Web/Desktop, WhatsApp for Windows and WhatsApp beta for macOS.
Why WhatsApp is disabling ‘view once’ messages on desktop
The report says that WhatsApp is adding more privacy for its users who use the app on desktop. These changes are important to stop recipients of ‘view once’ messages from taking a screenshot from their desktops.
WhatsApp users need to note that recipients can also use a secondary mobile device to take a photo of these view-once messages. So, it is better to be careful before sending such messages.

This is similar to the screenshot-blocking feature which WhatsApp was reported to be testing with both Android and iOS beta testers. This feature blocks mobile users from taking screenshots of ‘view-once’ messages they have received. This means that users will not be able to take screenshots on WhatsApp for mobile as well as on desktop clients, essentially enhancing the security across all platforms.
Last month, WhatsApp added some improvements to the drawing editor on the desktop client. The built-in editor will now allow users to apply two different blur effects on images.