New Tricks Daily

Sometimes you want to share a photo for a quick moment — not keep it floating in someone's gallery forever. That's exactly what WhatsApp's View Once feature is for. It lets you send a photo or video that disappears the moment the receiver opens it. Let's look at how it works, how to send one, and — most importantly — the safety rules most people skip. What is View Once? View Once is a WhatsApp feature for sending photos and videos that vanish after being opened one time. The receiver taps the photo, looks at it, and when they close it, it's gone — not saved to their gallery, not stored in the chat. On your side, you'll see an "Opened" status once they've viewed it, so you know the photo was seen. This is different from a normal photo: a normal photo stays in the chat forever and the other person can save, forward, or share it anytime. A View Once photo gets exactly one view. How to send a View Once photo or video Sending one takes four taps: ...

Handing your phone to a friend to show them a photo is normal — but nobody wants their private chats on display while they scroll. WhatsApp has a built-in feature for exactly this: Chat Lock. It locks any chat you choose behind your fingerprint (or face lock / phone PIN), moves it into a hidden "Locked chats" folder, and hides its message previews in notifications. Here's how to use it properly. How to lock a chat Long-press the chat you want to lock Tap Lock chat from the menu Confirm with your fingerprint (or your phone's screen lock) Done. That chat is now locked. Where do locked chats go? Locked chats disappear from your main chat list and move into a separate Locked chats folder. To open it, pull down on your chat list — the folder appears at the top. Tap it, verify your fingerprint, and your locked chats are there. How to unlock a chat Changed your mind? Long-press the locked chat inside the Locked chats folder, tap Unlock chat, and confirm with your ...