For some of us, nothing is permanent on WhatsApp. The globe-spanning chat app has made it extremely easy to send deeply private missives without worrying about prying eyes. Your innermost thoughts will vanish without a trace if you enable disappearing messages. While the most sensitive images and video will dissipate the moment they’re viewed.
Now, WhatsApp is doing the same for voice messages. Plenty of people treat the app like a walkie-talkie to beam audio bubbles back and forth between pals and loved ones. Thanks to a new update, you’ll now be able to send voice notes that will disappear as soon as they’re heard.
Similar to self-destructing photos and video, these types of audio messages will be clearly marked with the “one-time” icon to indicate they can only be played once. WhatsApp reckons they’ll come in handy when you want to share private info, like your credit card details, or if you’re planning a surprise.
But, they’ll also make voice messages appear as more urgent to recipients. Despite their popularity, the fact is not everyone is a fan of voice notes. Some view them as time-consuming distractions compared to text messages that can be digested with a glance.
So, how do you get the attention of these haters, who may also be averse to taking phone calls? Well, now you can send them a voice message that not only works just once, but also automatically disappears after 14 days if ignored.
Another plus is that they won’t clog up your phone storage. WhatsApp can easily hog space on your phone if your mates are bombarding each other with photos, videos, and memes in group chats. The last thing you need is massive voice notes taking up more room, especially as you probably won’t listen to them more than once or twice max.
How to send self-destructing voice messages
WhatsApp says it will be enabling the feature in the coming days. Once you update your phone to the latest version of the app, you should spot a new icon with a lock in the chat bar when recording a voice note.
Tapping it should send the audio in view-once mode. This will also stop the recipient from exporting, forwarding, saving, or recording it.
