The world's most popular chat app will let you send text messages that vanish as soon as they've been read, according to new evidence discovered by the sharp-eyed team over at WABetaInfo. The process is meant to mirror how you already send self-destructing photos and videos.
After the recipient opens the message once, it becomes completely inaccessible and cannot be viewed again.
Once the feature launches, you're meant to only be able to view a message a single time before it disappears permanently. The text cannot be saved or passed on to others.
To send a view-once text, WABetaInfo says you'll need to hold down the send button after typing your message. This brings up a dropdown menu with the option to send the message as view-once content.
The feature is expected to function in both one-to-one conversations and group chats.
View-once texts are also meant to come with robust safeguards to protect sensitive information. Recipients will be unable to copy the message content, forward it to others, or share it in any way.
WABetaInfo says WhatsApp will also prevent screenshots and screen recordings within the app, stopping you from preserving the content digitally. The company acknowledges that someone could theoretically photograph the screen using another device, but aims to restrict all in-app methods of capture.
Previously, users wanting to send temporary text had to resort to creative solutions. Many would type their message as a caption on an image and send that using the existing view-once photo option, essentially disguising text as media content.
The feature was uncovered in WhatsApp beta for iOS version 26.24.10.16, which is accessible through Apple's TestFlight programme. Development for Android was previously spotted in beta version 2.26.22.7.
Despite appearing in beta code, the functionality remains unavailable to testers at present. WhatsApp has not provided any official timeline for when you might expect to see it roll out to your mobile.
This isn't the only other update WhatsApp could be rolling out soon.
WABetaInfo has also seen that the chat app is testing a new "After Reading" timing option for disappearing messages on iPhone. It comes after the same team already spotted a version of this feature being trialled on Android.
Instead of your messages vanishing after a timer has expired after you hit send, these messages will only start their countdown once the person you're chatting with actually opens and reads them. It's a handy twist on the existing self-destructing messages system that's been around for a while.
WhatsApp first introduced this concept to Android users back in 2020, with iPhone users not being treated to the same feature until nearly a year later.
WABetaInfo says you'll soon get three new timing options to choose from once someone reads your message. You can set texts to disappear after just five minutes, giving you a proper "burn after reading" experience. If that feels too rushed, there's also a 1-hour option or a more relaxed 12-hour window.
This works differently from the existing time-based options of 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days. The current countdown begins from the moment a message is sent based on one of three time frames you choose.
