WhatApp's desktop apps are getting support view-once photos and videos soon

One of the best privacy-focused features of the WhatsApp instant messaging platform is the ability to send photos and videos but only allow them to be viewed once before they are removed and recipients are unable to see them again. It's a feature that is available on WhatsApp's mobile apps for the iPhone and Android, and the desktop apps did have the same feature previously before it was removed. Now, it seems it's making a triumphant return.

While you might not see the ability to send ephemeral photos and videos yourself, the beta watchers at WABetaInfo do now report that some users can. It would appear that, in typical WhatsApp fashion, this change is starting to roll out to some people now before being made available to more people in a wider audience over the coming weeks. If you don't see the option to send view-once photos or videos just yet, don't worry. The feature should be with you soon enough.

The feature speaks for itself and the use cases are obvious. Being able to send a photo or video that can only be viewed a single time can help protect privacy and sensitive information, and it's something that should always have been available in the desktop apps. The lack of such a feature was baffling, but it's now clear that WhatsApp has come to its senses.

WABetaInfo says that the new feature has appeared in WhatsApp on the Mac and Windows as well as WhatsApp on the web, so it doesn't appear that the change is going to be platform-specific, thankfully.