WhatsApp is chasing Snapchat with highly anticipated new feature

Sending photos and videos that disappear after a while: on Instagram and Snapchat it is the most normal thing in the world.

Not Facebook all its chat apps are pulling more equally, it will not surprise you that the company is developing a similar feature for WhatsApp works. This is evident from the code of the latest test version of the app.

WhatsApp test Expiring Media

As a user you can sign up for WhatsApp Beta. That is the test version of the chat app, in which developers test new features, changes and adjustments. Some features will come later to the regular version that everyone uses, other features will be deleted.

The first category most likely belongs ‘Expiring Media’. That is a new feature that allows you to transfer videos and photos to WhatsAppcontacts. The catch: they disappear after the other has opened your message and / or after they have left the chat.

No time limit?

Interestingly, it seems that you cannot set a time limit. WhatsApp may add that functionality later, but for now it will remain with messages that immediately disappear. Also striking: it does not then say that the media has disappeared, which does happen if you delete a chat message in the regular way. The photo or video in question is simply… gone.

A solution to be able to view the videos and photos in question for longer is of course taking a screenshot as the recipient. Snapchat and Co. counter this by notifying the sender that a screenshot has been taken. At the moment it is unclear whether WhatsApp choose that too.

For the time being, it will remain a test in the beta version of WhatsApp. It can take months for such functionality to make its way to the version of the chat app everyone is using. So to be continued!