WhatsApp bars users from taking screenshots of messages

CALIFORNIA: Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is testing a new tool that will bar users from taking screenshots of media/messages that are marked as ‘view once’ content.

According to a report by WaBetaInfo, WhatsApp has started rolling out a new beta version 2.22.22.3 for the messaging platform on Android.

📝 WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.22.3: what’s new?

WhatsApp is releasing screenshot and screen recording blocking for view once images and videos to some beta testers!https://t.co/KJC3jRTlXf pic.twitter.com/9uxPzfTdc6

— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) October 3, 2022

The new tool that prevent users from taking screenshot and screen recording for view once images and videos was available to some beta testers. The feature is expected to reach users soon.

How will this feature work?

As the name suggests, the View Once or Disappearing messages feature allows users to share photos or videos only once. When WhatsApp launched View Once, many users criticised it because people were taking screenshots of such messages.

To avoid this inconvenience, WhatsApp is going to roll out a new privacy feature soon which doesn’t allow recipient’s to click screenshots of media sent as ‘View once’ under any circumstances.

Once the feature will be available for all WhatsApp users, people would be able to see a pop-up notifications as ‘Screenshot Blocked’ or ‘Screen Recording Blocked’ if someone tries to take a screenshot or record media sent as ‘View Once’.

Well, the core idea behind launching this feature is to offer an added layer of protection.

New features

Apart from the screenshot-blocking feature, WhatsApp will introduce new features soon, as per the report published by WaBetaInfo.

The new features include: WhatsApp polls, creating a link to join call like Zoom, Google Meet, and others, moving the privacy section to the root, WhatsApp Premium for business accounts