WhatsApp is working on new features to allow for the Snapchat-like ability to view photos and videos just one time, according to a new report from 9to5Mac.
This will allow for users to let photos and videos destroy themselves after a certain amount of time for viewing.
However, unlike Snapchat, the new feature from WhatsApp’s iOS app will not indicate whether anyone has taken a screenshot. That’s because, according to the report, there’s no safe way to make sure that screenshots haven’t been taken. There are several ways to get around that.
The 9to5Mac report says that the new feature will allow users to send media, which will then instantly disappear from their mobile phone. It will also vanish from the recipient’s phone once they open it one time.
The user is also notified when the recipient opens the photo with a bubble message reporting it as “opened.”
There will also be a new redesigned way to see details like images, videos, GIFs and stickers. Unlike the old ways, users will now be able to expand the in-app notification and see chat previews. The chat preview not being static anymore will make it so that the user is able to scroll up and down and see older and newer messages.
Snapchat, meanwhile, has also been working on its business model, making a change to try and be a “super app” ecosystem. This could allow for musician users to license music directly and for partnerships with the NBA and newspaper chains like Gannett to promote respective deals for both.
Snap has steadily built this goal via a number of new features, including last year’s announcement that it will be debuting new eCommerce tools for developers as well as new augmented reality tools. The eCommerce tools are intended to make it easier to conduct transactions.
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