WhatsApp is changing the way the platform handles media sent over chats with disappearing messages enabled, reports WABetaInfo.
Going forward, WhatsApp will no longer automatically save images and other visual media to your iPhone’s Photos library if they appear within a chat thread that has disappearing messages turned on. The "Save to Camera Roll" option is now automatically turned off for disappearing chats, meaning images, videos, and GIFs won't be saved even if the general auto-save setting is enabled.
The previous default of saving images from disappearing chats to the Photos app was a discrepancy given the privacy focus of disappearing messages, so the change is likely to be welcomed by those who depend on the feature to share sensitive media.
Having said that, WhatsApp users can still manually save media that appears in disappearing chats they’ve received, or even take a screenshot of the chat thread, so what you send using the feature can still be potentially saved by the recipient after the message has disappeared.
In another change coming to WhatsApp and highlighted by WABetaInfo, the drawing interface is being tweaked so that the blur tool appears at the bottom of the screen, where it will sit alongside two new drawing pencils.
The change to the way WhatsApp handles media in disappearing messages is rolling out now to all users on iOS, but it’s not clear when the drawing interface tweaks will come out of beta and be made available to the chat platform’s wider user base.
Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below.
Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone.
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
A U.S. appeals court has upheld a temporary restraining order that prevents OpenAI and Jony Ive's new hardware venture from using the name "io" for products similar to those planned by AI audio startup iyO, Bloomberg Law reports.
iyO sued OpenAI earlier this year after the latter announced its partnership with Ive's new firm, arguing that OpenAI's planned "io" branding was too close to its...
Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Thursday December 4, 2025 9:30 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a statement shared with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple confirmed that its software design chief Alan Dye will be leaving. Apple said Dye will be succeeded by Stephen Lemay, who has been a software designer at the company since 1999.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Dye will lead a new creative studio within the company's AR/VR division Reality Labs.
On his blog Daring Fireball,...
Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...
There is uncertainty about Apple's head of hardware engineering John Ternus succeeding Tim Cook as CEO, The Information reports. Some former Apple executives apparently hope that a new "dark-horse" candidate will emerge.
Ternus is considered to be the most likely candidate to succeed Cook as CEO. The report notes that he is more likely to become CEO than software head chief Craig Federighi, ...
Tuesday December 2, 2025 11:09 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple is encouraging iPhone users who are still running iOS 18 to upgrade to iOS 26 by making the iOS 26 software upgrade option more prominent.
Since iOS 26 launched in September, it has been displayed as an optional upgrade at the bottom of the Software Update interface in the Settings app. iOS 18 has been the default operating system option, and users running iOS 18 have seen iOS 18...
Wednesday December 3, 2025 10:33 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 updates to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming two weeks after Apple seeded the third betas. The release candidates represent the final versions of iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found during this final week of testing....
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
This is an example of a privacy-friendly feature, though.
No it's not. It's not even remotely privacy oriented. I prefer to refer to it as digital flashing. For the disempowered at the receiving end it allows people to send stuff to them with no evidence that it was ever sent. For those who can take a screenshot on their phone, it completely removes the privacy stance of it. Thus it's stupid and it's not privacy friendly.
Apple needs to have a look at WhatsApp and steal how they handle attachments. It is such a mess on iMessage, especially with iCloud Messages enabled. I also hate how it doesn’t automatically save photos to the photo library (shared with you just isn’t the same).
I delete a photo right from the messaging app and it sometimes appears again after closing the app (or it just doesn’t let me delete it at all). I delete an image but somehow they still appear under iPhone storage, i delete all photos in iPhone storage yet it still shows photos in the messaging app. I delete every single photo but iCloud claims i have 3GB of iMessage attachments, yet there is NOTHING. Or I delete all iMessage photos on my iPhone but my Mac shows me images that do not appear for the same conversation on my iPad or iPhone whatsoever.
there isn’t even a button to remove all attachments at once! You literally have to tap on each individually because for some reason swipe to select doesn’t work either, unlike the photos app
You just tap to save the ones you want. I'm not sure what the issue is. Literally I don't want my photos library cluttered with every meme my kids send me. If you delete the conversation then the attachments go with it. I have about 6Gb in iMessage at the moment. It's mostly a non-issue for me as I've saved everything worth keeping as I go.
No it's not. It's not even remotely privacy oriented. I prefer to refer to it as digital flashing. For the disempowered at the receiving end it allows people to send stuff to them with no evidence that it was ever sent. For those who can take a screenshot on their phone, it completely removes the privacy stance of it. Thus it's stupid and it's not privacy friendly.
That's quite a cynical read. I imagine such scenarios happen, but "I want to share something but with a time limit" has tons and tons of users who aren't malicious like that at all; they really just want stuff to remain private.
Apple needs to have a look at WhatsApp and steal how they handle attachments. It is such a mess on iMessage, especially with iCloud Messages enabled. I also hate how it doesn’t automatically save photos to the photo library (shared with you just isn’t the same).
I delete a photo right from the messaging app and it sometimes appears again after closing the app (or it just doesn’t let me delete it at all). I delete an image but somehow they still appear under iPhone storage, i delete all photos in iPhone storage yet it still shows photos in the messaging app. I delete every single photo but iCloud claims i have 3GB of iMessage attachments, yet there is NOTHING. Or I delete all iMessage photos on my iPhone but my Mac shows me images that do not appear for the same conversation on my iPad or iPhone whatsoever.
there isn’t even a button to remove all attachments at once! You literally have to tap on each individually because for some reason swipe to select doesn’t work either, unlike the photos app
That's quite a cynical read. I imagine such scenarios happen, but "I want to share something but with a time limit" has tons and tons of users who aren't malicious like that at all; they really just want stuff to remain private.
I have a friend who gets self-expiring dick pictures at least once a week.
It enables those people somewhat.
There is no valid usage for "this message will self destruct" that I can think of.
