WhatsApp has been testing the View-Once disappearing messages feature on its Android app since last month, and we now hear it is being tested on iOS as well.
This revelation comes from the folks at WABetaInfo, who spotted this View-Once disappearing messages feature on beta version 26.19.10.72 of WhatsApp for iOS.
This feature can be enabled via the “After reading” option in the Default message timer > Message timer menu. On iOS, it allows the sender to set a countdown timer for 5 minutes, 1 hour, or 2 hours, after which the message(s) they sent will disappear automatically if read by the recipient. If the message remains unread, it will disappear automatically after 24 hours.
On the sender’s device, the message will be automatically deleted after the selected duration. For example, if you send a message at 10 AM with the “After reading” duration set to 5 minutes, it will disappear automatically from your device at 10:05 AM. On the recipient’s end, if the message is read at 10:10 AM, it will automatically disappear at 10:15 AM. If the message remains unread, it will be deleted automatically from their device at 10 AM the next day.
WABetaInfo reports that this feature is available to some WhatsApp beta users on iOS, but it’s unclear when exactly WhatsApp will release it publicly for both Android and iOS users.