An upcoming WhatsApp update will automatically delete media after it’s been viewed.
The feature, named ‘Expired Media’, was first noticed by WaBetaInfo who reported it will allow media such as images, videos and GIFs to disappear in a chat once they’ve been viewed by the recipient, in a similar fashion to Snapchat.
To send Expiring Media, users will have to select a ‘view once’ option prior to sending the message and the recipient will only be allowed to view the media when they’re in the chat.
Once they open the chat and go to leave, a message will appear which reads: “This media will disappear once you leave this chat.”
When they return to the chat, another message will appear to tell them the media has been deleted.
It’s not clear when the feature will be rolled out to the public just yet but it is currently under development as part of WhatsApp beta for Android 2.20.2011.