WhatsApp ‘view once’ feature is not safe: Here’s how users are easily bypassing it

WhatsApp is the most popular social messaging app and as a companion for millions, it is used to send and receive messages, photos, videos, and other forms of communication. The biggest advantage of using WhatsApp is its security, thanks to end-to-end encryption, and in order to make it an even more secure form of communication, the Meta-owned platform has added ephemeral messaging as well in the form of “view once.”

With the view once feature, WhatsApp promised to further enhance privacy by allowing users to send photos and videos that disappear after being viewed. While this feature was all about security, it has now been found that it is not that safe, after all.

How to view the one-time photo in WhatsApp again

While there were concerns about WhatsApp view once, Meta duly addressed those concerns. However, a new flaw has been discovered that allows recipients to access images shared via view once mode even after being viewed. This security flaw works only on iPhones and is not affecting Android users. Here’s how iPhone users can view one-time photos in WhatsApp again.

• Step 1: Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
• Step 2: Navigate to Storage and Data and tap on Manage Storage.
• Step 3: Scroll down to find the contact from whom you received the view once media.
• Step 4: Tap on their name and select Sort by from the bottom left corner.
• Step 5: Choose Newest First.
• Step 6: The view once media will appear in the list and can be viewed again.

While we have seen people use screenshots or screen recording apps to capture view once media or use a secondary device to capture them and even attempt to restore them from the cache, this new flaw shows how the feature is not that watertight. While WhatsApp has not addressed this flaw in how its app handles view once media on iOS, it does pose a privacy risk to those who use the feature to share personal or sensitive data.

View once WhatsApp's privacy concern

When WhatsApp launched the “view once” feature, it was dubbed as the platform’s attempt to further enhance privacy for its users. However, the design flaw and tricks deployed by users shows that it is not a reliable way to share one-time media with your contacts on WhatsApp. The biggest problem is there is no way to ensure that media is truly deleted after it is viewed.

The new flaw means that iPhone users can save private photos or videos shared with them without the sender’s consent. The lack of proper notification means that WhatsApp users should use the view once feature with caution and avoid it for their private media.

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Back in September 2024, a similar flaw was found in WhatsApp’s browser-based web app that allowed users to display “view once” media and then keep the picture or video. WhatsApp fixed the issue in December with a long-term fix but that has not stopped people from saving, sharing, forwarding, and copying media sent as “View Once” and we will have to wait until Meta fixes this latest flaw to ensure view once does not become a view forever feature.