After the criticism directed at him due to the new privacy terms, and the mass migration of its users towards other instant messaging applications, it seems that WhatsApp is trying to address the matter by adding features that would further protect their privacy, after it revealed the self-destructing feature of messages last November, the company is now working on the same feature for photos.
Today, WABetaInfo, the trusted Leaker for WhatsApp's features, spotted four screenshots showing the new Self-Destructing Photo feature that WhatsApp is working on, which will be available in a future update for iOS and Android users.
The self-destructing photos, as its name indicate, let users send photos that disappear from the WhatsApp chat history once they leave the chat, Via a new button located next to the text box in the image preview window, and according to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp won’t allow users to export self-destructing images.
This new feature may let you think that is a step in the right way to help protect users privacy, but it is not, at least for now, as WhatsApp didn't implement a screenshot detection for self-destructing photos yet, and according to the leaker, the company doesn't really like the idea of screenshot detection, so it is not clear if the company will do so in the future or no.
Without a feature that prevents users from taking a screenshot of a self-destructing image, this feature is useless, just like self-destructing messages that when they contain media, that media remains stored on the recipient's device. So, it seems that WhatsApp is adding these features to the app only to trick users and make them feel that their privacy is protected to prevent them from moving to other messaging programs that offer such features and prevent recipients from keeping these self-destructing messages and photos on their devices.
Do you agree? Share your thoughts in the comments below!