Pay attention to the WhatsApp warning that means you broke the rules with a simple mistake

IF you are using WhatsApp and you see a gray pop-up, it means you are trying to break the rules.

Earlier this year, WhatsApp added a new “block” to prevent you from doing anything naughty.

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The app now blocks you from taking screenshots of View Once messages.

If you try, you’ll get a pop-up warning that the app has blocked you from capturing the screen.

It was announced back in August by Meta and WhatsApp boss Mark Zuckerberg as part of a trio of new features.

And it’s designed to prevent users from taking screenshots of messages that should go away.

The pop-up window says “Screenshot has been blocked for privacy reasons.”

The view-once feature warns: “This is a view-once photo, so it’s more private.

“It disappears from the chat after you close it.

“Furthermore, you cannot share, forward, copy, save or take a screenshot of it.”

Unfortunately, the feature isn’t fully waterproof, as recently revealed by The sun.

A rogue chatter could simply use another device to capture a photo or video of the screen.

There is no way for WhatsApp to prevent this.

As always, the best advice is to be very careful about what you share online.

If you don’t want something to be available or shared on the internet, avoid sending it to others.

Even people you trust now might not be so loyal in the future.

And someone could save an image and end up being hacked themselves.

Blocking screenshots on disappearing messages adds a significant additional layer of security.

But you can’t completely rely on it – so always be careful who you send pictures, videos or even texts to.

If an image is highly sensitive, consider showing the person in real life or find a safer way to get your message across.

That said, it’s still a good idea to use View Once wherever you can, as it’s better than leaving an image open forever.

“View Once is already an incredibly popular way to share photos or media that doesn’t require a permanent digital record,” WhatsApp explained in a new blog post.

“Now we’re enabling screenshot blocking for View Once messages for an extra layer of protection.”

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