WhatsApp first rolled out the ability to send self-destructing media in August last year, and the feature allows you to send images and videos that the recipient can only view once. That was followed by the ability to send disappearing messages, with the service eventually adding an option to keep the feature on by default for chats. However, any photos or videos you had sent in this type of conversation were still downloaded to your phone's storage and visible in the gallery, posing a privacy risk. WhatsApp is finally fixing this issue by turning off the media visibility option for such chats.

WABetaInfo reports that WhatsApp is now rolling out the new behavior for Android and iPhone users after initially testing the media settings tweak in February. The change is being rolled out to all WhatsApp users, irrespective of whether they are on the beta or public channel. It will also retroactively apply to all existing conversations.

Screenshot via WABetaInfo

The change means that images and videos from chats with disappearing messages enabled won't show up in your phone's gallery despite the media visibility option being turned on. Trying to tweak this behavior in the chat settings will prompt the app to turn off disappearing messages for the conversation first.

Note that this change does not mean that all shared media will have to disappear. You can access and manually save them from the conversation window on a per-media basis if needed.m You can share self-destructing media in a conversation with disappearing messages enabled if you want the recipient to be able only to view them once. This is a small change from WhatsApp's end, but it will further ensure your private conversations and whatever you share on them remain hidden from prying eyes.