Meta is constantly testing new features to improve the user experience on WhatsApp for Android and iOS. From the upcoming WhatsApp Poll privacy feature to a dedicated subscription plan, WhatsApp has a lot of new features in the pipeline. The latest one reveals a dedicated spoiler text formatting option for secure chatting.
WhatsApp spoiler text feature can let you send view once messages
Spotted by WABetaInfo, the new work-in-progress feature was discovered in the codebase of the Android beta 2.26.7.10 build, which is being rolled out via the Google Play Beta Program. The feature tracker also gave us a good look at how the upcoming spoiler formatter will work.
As it is evident from the image below, a new Spoiler option is now visible just beside the Monospace text edit option. It is the fifth text formatter after Bold, Italic, Strikethrough and Monospace. Using the Spoiler options, users will be able to conveniently hide an entire text message or even a small portion of it.
The primary use of this feature is to send view-only messages that expire once the recipient has clicked on the masked text. So far, WhatsApp only allows view-only capabilities for media files like photos and videos. However, with Spoilers, even text messages will expire once they are delivered and read.
The feature is also useful in group chats where users might want to send a message to a particular person but don't want the entire group to know about it. At the moment, it is unclear how WhatsApp will personalise masked texts in a group, where anyone can open a particular message.
That said, at the time of writing, the new WhatsApp Spoiler text edit tool is still under development and should roll out to select beta testers with future builds. We can expect a TestFlight version shortly afterwards, before it ships to the public.
