WhatsApp is a great app for sending instant messages, which can be text or audio, and even accompanied by videos, documents, or photos. You can also make calls and video calls to anyone you want without spending a single euro. But the best feature that allows you to improve the security of your communications is precisely the least used feature.
There’s an option that few people know about, and even fewer use, that allows you to keep what you tell someone private, preventing others from finding out—or at least that’s the goal. With this option, you and the other person ensure that you’re the only ones who know what’s in the audio you send them on WhatsApp, or that they send you, since you have the option to send audios that can be listened to only once.
This is a great feature that allows the other person to only listen to your audio when they have time, and with maximum privacy, because they’ll only listen to it once. They won’t be able to record it with their phone or send it to anyone because it will be deleted once it’s been played. Obviously, you have to be careful if it’s something very confidential and you don’t trust the other person because they could record it with another phone, or there could be someone nearby spying who could also hear the audio content. Nothing is 100% secure because there are always catches.
But this often doesn’t happen, and private audio recordings give you the confidentiality, privacy, and security you need in your WhatsApp communications, yet not many people use them. We’ll tell you how to use it if you’re still not sure how to do it.
How to activate private audio on WhatsApp
Getting started with one-time audio is easy, but you’ll probably have to get the hang of it the first time because as soon as you hit record, the audio will be recorded:
- Go to the chat of the person you want to talk to
- Click on record audio at the bottom left (audio icon)
- Click on the 1 that you will see on the screen, just above send
- When it appears checked, it means that it is an audio that will be heard only once.
- Speak as much as you need (you can stop the audio if you want at any time from the two bars in the center of the screen, and then continue)
- Hit send when you’ve finished the audio
- If you are not satisfied, on the left you see the delete image, and it will not be sent.
- When the other person hears it, it will be deleted instantly.
It’s as simple as sending any audio file, but by tapping the temporary message option, which you’ll see on the screen with a 1 (which means it’s been viewed). If you leave the screen without sending or deleting, it will remain as a draft, and you can send it later. For example, if you start to say something to someone and you realize you’re about to be interrupted, or someone might hear what you’re saying, you can return to the chat and continue talking, send it now, or delete it if you’ve changed your mind. Although it’s very practical and secure, not many people use it. However, we love it and think it’s one of the app’s best features.