WhatsApp has begun to activate text messages “see only once” for some users of its beta on Android. According to WABetaInfo, They arrive with the version 2.26.45.6 from Google Play and will roll out to more testers in the coming weeks. Meta has not officially announced it and there is no date for the stable version.
The idea comes from afar: it already appeared in a beta in December 2022, WhatsApp put it aside and resumed it last June. Now it works like this: you write the message, keep Press the send button and choose “view once”. The recipient opens it on a separate screen, without being able to take screenshots, record the screen, copy, forward or save it. When you close it it disappears for both of you; You only see that it has been opened, and when, if you have read receipts activated.
How is it different from temporary messages?
WhatsApp is rolling out view-eleven text messages on Android!
WhatsApp is finally bringing the view-once option to text messages on Android. pic.twitter.com/oQ8lb4T5Un
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) November 12, 2026
WhatsApp already had two similar tools. Temporary messages are activated for the entire chat and delete what was sent after 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days, whether it has been read or not. The “After reading” option, in testing since May, also applies to the entire chat, but wait for the reading: Delete messages 5 minutes, 1 hour or 12 hours later.
The “see once” goes message by message: the conversation remains intact and only that text disappears. It fits with specifics, such as the Wi-Fi password, a verification code or an account number that you do not want to remain in your history. Until now we had to resort to compromises, how to send the data inside a photo to see once.
Will it work on PC, iPhone and in groups?
WABetaInfo does not clarify whether the recipient needs the beta or what happens on WhatsApp Web, the desktop or other linked devices, where WhatsApp even blocked photos from being viewed once for privacy. On iPhone it has been in development since June, no confirmed deploymentand previous tests suggest that it will work in groups, but not in channels.
Is it as safe as it seems?
We find it a useful function, but it reduces the trace, it does not guarantee secrecy. Blocking screenshots does not prevent you from photographing the screen with another mobile phone, and in 2024 researchers demonstrated that an unofficial client could skip the “view once” of the photos. It is used to avoid leaving sensitive data in the chat, not to send it to someone you don’t trust.
