WhatsApp continues to surprise us with new features and one of the most recent is the ability to send audios (voice notes) for one-time playback. That is, like temporary photos, these voice notes self-destruct as soon as the recipient finishes playing them. This way, the recipient cannot save or forward that secret audio you sent via the messaging app’s servers.
Although WhatsApp has named this feature “one-time view voice messages“, on this occasion it might be more correct to call them for single listening or single playback. In any case, we will refer to it as the company has translated it; the complaints are theirs!
How to send one-time voice notes on WhatsApp
Note that it’s not as intuitive as it could be, at least not as much as its counterpart: temporary photos and videos. To send a one-time playback audio on WhatsApp you can follow these steps:
- Open the chat you want and start to record a voice note as you normally do.
- Keep the record button pressed while you slide up.
- The recording will be “locked” so you can release your finger from the record button.
- You will see the icon (1) just next to the audio waveform. Tapping it will set the message as temporary.
When you press the (1) button a confirmation message will appear on the screen so you’ll know that the audio you’re about to send can only be played once by your recipient, both in individual and group chats.
You can also tap the pause button before finishing your recording; then you’ll see the icon (1) which, when tapped, will set the voice note to this self-destruct mode.
Keep in mind you won’t be able to set the recording as one-time playback if you’ve already sent it; in that case, you always have the option to delete the message for everyone and re-record the voice note, as long as the recipient hasn’t played your audio.
What happens if I have the audio or screen recorder active while I play a temporary audio in WhatsApp?
The company has thought of every possibility and, as with temporary photos and videos, we will not be able to open the message if it detects that we’re recording the internal audio of our smartphone, whether via a dedicated app or the screen recorder.
It is worth noting that temporary messages can only be opened from a smartphone, since (at the time of writing) they are not compatible with WhatsApp’s desktop clients or web versions.
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