The new feature was revealed by Vapita Information, a website that specializes in getting to know the latest versions of applications.

WhatsApp is preparing to release a major update for a very popular chat app, but the new feature that will be appearing soon may be widely controversial.

Rumors of this have been circulating for months, but eventually a team at WAbetainfo found that WhatsApp is officially testing the app’s ability to self-destruct photos and videos.

This feature is very similar to the one provided by Snapchat years ago, the moment you open the image on the recipient’s device, it will disappear in a self – destructive manner and will automatically destroy the video clip when closed.

Screenshots of how the new feature works in WhatsApp have been published online, explaining that this option allows users to send photos and videos in a more private way.

However, WhatsApp warns users that although photos and videos can only be viewed once, there is nothing to stop the recipient from taking screenshots of anything sent.

In a message displayed in the app, WhatsApp says, “When this setting is on, recipients can only open your sent photo or video clip once before it disappears, remembering that they can take screenshots before it disappears.”

This means that anyone considering considering sending them something to worry about in the future should be careful before pressing the send button.

According to “Vapid Info”, this self-destructing messaging feature is still in development, but as it is now being taken to the beta lab, it is expected to launch soon.

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