Summary
- WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.25.3.7 allows viewing self-destructing images, videos, and voice messages on linked devices.
- Some limitations still exist on linked devices, but broader availability of the feature is expected in the coming days for beta testers.
- Despite the feature making it to beta, there’s still no fixed timeline for its availability on the stable version of WhatsApp.
There’s a lot to love about WhatsApp, which is among the world’s most popular messaging apps right now. One of those features that many have come to love and rely on is linked devices, which lets users access their WhatsApp account on another device, whether it’s a computer, Android tablet, or even another smartphone. While you can do pretty much everything on a linked device, it doesn’t let you open images, videos, or voice messages that have been set to view once by the sender. But it looks like the Meta-owned app is working on a remedy for this shortcoming.
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As spotted by WABetaInfo, users on WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.25.3.7 can finally view self-destructing images, videos, and voice messages on their linked devices. It’s unclear why WhatsApp never allowed this in the first place, but people who frequently use their WhatsApp account on a linked device will welcome this inclusion.
WABetaInfo says the feature is only live for some beta users, but it should be more widely available to testers over the coming days. According to a WhatsApp support page, there are still some things you can’t do on a linked device, such as viewing someone’s live location or viewing/creating broadcast lists. But there’s no mention of the limitation related to view once media and voice messages.
We may be in for a bit of a wait
I’m not seeing support for opening view once content on my linked device, with a message saying – “Waiting for this message. This may take a while.” Thankfully, it looks like this particular restriction might soon be gone. But it’s up to anybody’s guess as to when WhatsApp will take this feature live for users of the stable version of the app.
In November 2023, a WhatsApp beta revealed work on letting users send view once media on linked devices. Unfortunately, this feature is still not widely available across all platforms, more than a year after it was spotted in development. But with the ability to view ephemeral content on linked devices now being developed, we’re hoping that WhatsApp will also let users send these self-destructing messages using a linked device.
In related news, we recently stumbled upon a vulnerability in WhatsApp that would let users open view once images and videos even after they’ve been viewed by the recipient, raising some significant privacy concerns. Thankfully, WhatsApp and Meta sprung into action fairly quickly and fixed this particular bug/vulnerability a week ago.