WhatsApp urges iPhone users to update app after bug found on popular feature you'll want to fix

dailyrecord.co.uk:

WhatsApp remains one of the most popular chat apps across the world due to its user-friendly interface and the ability to text, video call, and send images and videos for free to anyone with an iPhone or Android phone.

The app is relatively straightforward but does offer some additional features such as the 'View Once' option. This allows you to send photos or videos to individuals or group chats that can only be viewed once - as the name suggests.This feature mirrors Snapchat, where media sent on the app disappear by default after one viewing, but on WhatsApp, it's one of several options, reports the Express.However, iPhone users are being warned the 'View Once' feature has a flaw that means supposedly disappearing photos and videos are not actually being deleted.These users are being urged to update their version of the free WhatsApp app as soon as possible to fix this bug.

The 'View Once' flaw was first reported on blog site Medium by security researcher Ramshath, who noticed they could bypass the function."A friend sent me a "View Once" image," Ramshath said. "I opened it, triggering the feature to delete the media as soon as I closed it.

Out of curiosity, I navigated to Settings > Storage and Data > Manage Storage. "I located the sender's chat, sorted the storage by "Newest," and there it was - the "View Once" image, still accessible. "Instead of disappearing like a responsible guest, the image decided to hang around in WhatsApp's Manage Storage area, defying the very idea of 'View Once.'"Even though the image vanished from the WhatsApp chat, it lingered in the phone's memory, and could be found if you know where to look.The researcher reported the flaw to Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook, and