WhatsApp has begun testing a View-Once disappearing messages option on its iOS beta, the company’s messaging app that already trialed the same capability on Android last month.
WABetaInfo spotted the option in beta version 26.19.10.72 of WhatsApp for iOS and reported that it appears as an After reading choice inside the Default message timer menu under Message timer.
The feature lets a sender choose a countdown that will delete a message on the sender’s device after a set interval once the recipient has read it — the available intervals on iOS are 5 minutes, 1 hour and 2 hours. If a recipient never opens the message, it will still disappear automatically after 24 hours.
On both ends the mechanics are simple: a message that is read disappears once the selected duration passes; if unread, the message is removed after 24 hours. WABetaInfo also reported that the feature was available to some WhatsApp beta users on iOS at the time of the report.
The testing on iOS follows WhatsApp’s initial rollout of a View-Once disappearing messages test on Android last month. That sequence — Android first, then iOS beta builds — is the timeline identified by the beta tracker; WhatsApp has not announced a public release schedule for either platform.
The technical placement of the option is significant for users who have already used WhatsApp’s disappearing messages system: the new After reading choice sits inside the existing Message timer controls, extending the app’s ephemeral messaging tools with timers tied to reading rather than to send time alone.
Numbers matter here. The precise timer options — 5 minutes, 1 hour and 2 hours — mark a narrower, read-triggered approach than the longer windows typically offered for disappearing messages. The fallback 24-hour auto-delete for unread messages establishes a predictable ceiling for how long unread content persists.
But the test exposes a gap between what the feature promises and what users can actually expect today. At the time of the WABetaInfo report, availability was limited to some beta users on iOS and WhatsApp had not set a public launch date. That makes it impossible to say when average users on Android and iOS will see the option, or whether the timers and behavior observed in the beta will remain unchanged in a public release.
The uncertainty is the friction: beta sightings show the mechanics and menus, but they do not tell whether WhatsApp will expand the timer options, alter the unread-time fallback, or add notices and safeguards before a wider rollout. For organizations and users thinking through data-retention policies or ephemeral messaging practices, the unanswered element is practical — when will the feature reach stable builds and whether it will work identically across platforms.
For now the testing on iOS is a clear incremental step: WhatsApp is extending its disappearing messages system with an After reading, view-once style timer that can remove read messages after 5 minutes, 1 hour or 2 hours and which removes unread messages after 24 hours, and that behaviour has been observed in beta version 26.19.10.72. What matters next is simple and specific — when will WhatsApp move the feature out of beta and into the public release channel for both Android and iOS, and with what final settings?
