WhatsApp starts blocking screenshots of ‘View Once’ content

WhatsApp’s beta testers are reporting the screenshot blocking characteristic is beginning to seem (Credit score: Getty)

WhatsApp is beginning to put a safety measure in place that stops folks from screenshotting ‘View As soon as’ messages.

The View As soon as characteristic was introduced out in 2021 and echoes what’s accessible on Snapchat. Customers can ship messages – together with photographs and movies – to one another for a specified time earlier than they vanish into the ether.

Sadly, WhatsApp ignored the actual fact anybody might merely screenshot the content material and thereby defeat the complete function.

Roughly a yr later, WhatsApp boss Mark Zuckerberg introduced that a screenshot blocking choice could be coming alongside to unravel the issue.

And beta testers of the app say screenshot blocking is beginning to present up.

First reported by the WhatsApp-focused weblog WABetaInfo, any consumer making an attempt to take a screenshot of the disappearing media is stopped from doing so and proven the next message: ‘Can’t take screenshot as a consequence of safety coverage.’

A screengrab exhibiting WhatsApp stopping a consumer making an attempt to screenshot disappearing media (Credit score: WABetaInfo)

Attempting to skirt across the difficulty with a third-party app or extension doesn’t work both, you’re simply rewarded with a black screenshot.

In keeping with the positioning, WhatsApp doesn’t inform the sender that the recipient tried to screenshot their message – which is one thing Snapchat does.

There’s no mounted date but on when this might be accessible to all customers, all WhatsApp says is that ‘we’re testing this characteristic now and are excited to roll it out to customers quickly.’

After all, if you happen to actually, actually needed to seize disappearing media – all you’d must do is to movie the display with one other cellphone or digicam. However there’s not a lot WhatsApp or Mark Zuckerberg can do about that.