WhatsApp rolling out self destructing voice messages

In yet another move highlighting its focus on security and privacy, WhatsApp is rolling out support for View Once voice messages globally, a couple of months after the feature was released to the beta version of the app on Android and iOS.

View Once is what WhatsApp calls the general option in the app for sending photos and videos that can only be viewed by the recipient once and cannot be screenshotted or saved, which was first introduced in 2021. Now, it is being extended to voice messages (though perhaps calling it Listen Once in this case may have been more appropriate?).

Just like View Once photos and videos, a View Once voice message will have a “one-time” icon next to it and will self-destruct on the recipient’s device immediately after it has been played back. As you would expect, this will apply to voice messages shared in both individual and group chats. End-to-end encryption will be applied to these messages as well, though that won’t stop WhatsApp from getting access to them if someone reports a one-time voice message.

View Once voice messages started rolling out on December 7 and will take a few days to reach all WhatsApp users around the world. Both the mobile and web/PC versions of WhatsApp will get the feature.