Photos and videos can now be marked within WhatsApp so that they can only be opened and viewed once by the recipient. This is intended to increase privacy for the sender to a certain extent by not keeping everything digital. The recipient in turn saves a bit of storage space.
WhatsApp calls the new function single view, which is now available for all messenger platforms. The editors were able to successfully try out the single view on Android, iOS and WhatsApp Web in the Chrome browser for Windows 10.
The new function does exactly what its name suggests: Photos and videos can only be opened and viewed once by the recipient and are then removed from the chat history. “Not everything that we share has to be digitally preserved over the long term,” explains WhatsApp about the new function and wants to give users back a little sovereignty over their digital traces.
Send photos and video individually
The single view can be used for photos and videos taken directly within WhatsApp with the camera function as well as media selected via the smartphone gallery. In the area of the caption, a blue “1” with a timer pictogram marks the availability of the function. After activation, a message will appear briefly that the photo or video will be shared for one-time viewing. A now white “1” in the blue filled circle indicates that the one-time view is active. However, once the function is used, multiple photos or videos can no longer be sent at once. The other way around, the function is grayed out if several media were selected before activation.
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WhatsApp single view on the sender's side
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WhatsApp single view on the sender's side 
WhatsApp single view on the recipient's side Single view does not protect against screenshots
The fact that photos and videos can now only be opened once does not mean that the recipient cannot save them permanently via screenshot or recording of the screen, as WhatsApp explains in the FAQ. It also explains that photos or videos sent or received for one-time viewing cannot be forwarded, saved, starred or shared. The sender can only see that the photo or video has been opened by the recipient if the recipient has activated read receipt. Media not viewed within 14 days will automatically disappear from the chat history.
WhatsApp is working on multi-device support
WhatsApp announced the one-time view at the beginning of June when multi-device support was announced. WhatsApp has been testing this since mid-July with selected users as part of a public beta test. This is to be expanded step by step, additional functions are to be added and performance is to be improved.