WhatsApp is testing a new type of disappearing message that deletes itself the moment a recipient reads it — a feature spotted in the latest iOS and Android betas by WABetaInfo that goes further than the app’s existing view-once option by applying to ordinary text conversations.
The feature shows up as an “After reading” option inside WhatsApp’s Default Message Timer settings, sitting alongside the current time-based choices of 24 hours, 7 days, and 90 days. When selected, a message disappears from the conversation as soon as the recipient opens it. Users can also dial in a grace period — 5 minutes, 1 hour, or 12 hours after reading — before deletion kicks in. Any message left unread is automatically removed after 24 hours regardless of the setting. The option is currently available to a limited number of beta testers on both TestFlight and the Android beta channel; WhatsApp has not made an official announcement.
WhatsApp already has view-once mode for photos and videos, but text has only ever had time-based expiry. The “After reading” approach is closer to how Signal handles note-to-self and sensitive messages, or how Snapchat has handled ephemeral text by default for years. The feature’s appearance in both the iOS and Android betas at the same time suggests it is further along in development than a typical early-stage experiment.
For the large number of people who use WhatsApp for sensitive conversations, read-once text removes one more reason to switch apps. Whether it rolls out as an opt-in per chat or as a global default setting will determine how much of an impact it actually has on day-to-day privacy.
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