WhatsApp to prevent users from taking screenshots of ‘View Once Media’

WhatsApp is rolling out a feature to block capturing of a screenshot of ‘view-once messages’ which disappear after the receiver reads them.

WhatsApp introduced the View Once feature last year and it allowed users to share disappearing media while messaging each other. While the feature was a certain welcome, it did not offer any way to block screenshots, which meant that the recipient had the option to save the disappearing media by just taking a quick screenshot. This, more or less, made the feature useless.

Mark Zuckerberg, Founder, and CEO of Meta has announced three new privacy features for the popular messaging app. These features include screenshot blocking, an option to leave groups silently, and the ability to choose who can see you when you are online.

Screenshot blocking will simply prevent people from taking screenshots of View Once messages, this will finally make this feature useful. It is currently being tested and will be rolling out to all the users soon. WhatsApp has been working on an option to let users hide their online status for some time now, but the feature to actually choose who can see you online and who cannot is also coming out.

Moreover, WhatsApp users will also be able to leave the groups silently without noticing all the other participants. This will surely make things less awkward for those who are always trying to stay away from the prying eyes. However, group admins will still be notified as to who has left the group.

Along with the three new privacy features, WhatsApp has also started a campaign to educate users about the new features and its continued commitment to protecting users’ private conversations.”