New WhatsApp feature will send a warning if you don’t do this within a fortnight

A report by WABetaInfo says that WhatsApp will notify users if a message that they received with the View Once feature has expired. — AFP

WhatsApp has been working on its View Once feature for quite some time now. As per reports, the Facebook-owned messaging app has started rolling out this feature to the beta users of its Android app.

If you are a beta tester, you can get this feature by downloading WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.21.14.3 on your Android smartphone. Now, a new report talks about the improvements that Facebook has rolled out to this feature.

For the uninitiated, WhatsApp’s upcoming View Once feature enables users to send ephemeral messages that disappear once a user has seen them. WhatsApp users can share text messages, photos and even videos using this technique.

Another thing that you need to know about this feature is that these messages won't stay in a recipient's inbox forever if they don't open it. As per reports, if a user doesn't open a View Once message within 14 days, the message will expire and won't be accessible to the recipient any more.

Now, a report by WABetaInfo says that WhatsApp will notify users if a message that they received with the View Once feature has expired. The blog post said that WhatsApp is giving clarity to its users about an expired View Once message by introducing a warning system.

“Photo expired. This photo has expired, please ask (sender's name) to resend it,” is the in-app notification that users will see if they tap on a photo that has expired already. The messaging app will show a similar message in case of videos shared using this method.

This update is compatible with WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.21.15.11, but don’t panic if you don’t see this update in the app yet. It is expected to be available to all Android beta testers of the app in a future update. – Hindustan Times, New Delhi/Tribune News Service