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.
Wednesday September 17, 2025 2:56 pm PDT by Juli Clover
It's been two days since iOS 26 was released, and Apple's new Liquid Glass design is even more divisive than expected.
Any major design change can create controversy as people get used to the new look, but the MacRumors forums, Reddit, Apple Support Communities, and social media sites seem to feature more criticism than praise as people discuss the update.
Complaints
There are a long...
Tuesday September 16, 2025 11:17 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
iOS 26 was finally released on Monday, but the software train never stops, and the first developer beta of iOS 26.1 will likely be released soon.
iOS 18.1 was an anomaly, as the first developer beta of that version was released in late July last year, to allow for early testing of Apple Intelligence features. The first betas of iOS 15.1, iOS 16.1, and iOS 17.1 were all released in the second ...
Wednesday September 17, 2025 4:26 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple in October 2024 overhauled its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display changes, and more. That's quite a lot of updates in one go, but if you think this means a further major refresh for the MacBook Pro is now several years away, think again.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said he expects only a small ...
Tuesday September 16, 2025 12:26 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple released iOS 26 on September 15, and it's now available for all iPhone users with a compatible device. There are a lot of changes and features to learn about, so if you want a quick, easy-to-read list that outlines what's new, we've got you covered.
Design
Liquid Glass design that reflects light and refracts what's underneath. It's system wide, with dynamic tab bars and toolbars...
Wednesday September 17, 2025 4:55 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
iOS 26's new Liquid Glass interface has been criticized for making some content illegible in certain circumstances, and now the UI design is reportedly causing another unusual visual problem for some users.
Liquid Glass adds subtle glowing effects to the corners of app icons, creating a dynamic glass-like appearance with depth and parallax effects. However, as noted by Gizmodo, this design...
Monday September 15, 2025 10:50 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released updated firmware for the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 4, introducing support for the new AirPods features that are included in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe.
The firmware has a build number of 8A356, and it replaces the current 7E93 firmware.
With Apple's new software updates, the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 4 support better audio quality for phone calls and...
Thursday September 18, 2025 9:17 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions.
The update will have a build number of 23A350, or similar, the account said.
It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's Henry T. ...
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.
