Messaging app Viber brings disappearing messages to group chats for the first time

Disappearing Viber Messages (Image credit: Viber)

What you need to know

Viber users can now create messages that disappear, even in group chats.
The feature is rolling out to iPhone users now.

Cross-platform messaging app Viber has announced that it is making disappearing messages available in group chats starting today. The feature was previously only an option for one-on-one chats.

The move is one that other companies like WhatsApp have been keen to make, allowing people to send messages that disappear after a set amount of time. In the case of Viber, people will be able to choose from just 10 seconds all the way up to a whole day before their messages go poof.

Depending on the phone you and other people in your group are using, forwarding, copying, and taking a screenshot of messages will be completely disabled. On iPhones however, people will just get a notification when a screenshot is taken.

With the expanded functionality, Viber users can set messages in a group chat to disappear 10 seconds, one minute, one hour, or one day after being read, offering more options than with the disappearing message features of other apps. On devices using Android 6 or newer, Viber will completely disable forwarding, copying, or taking a screenshot of a message when the disappearing option is activated. For earlier versions of Android and all iOS users, group chat members will be automatically notified if any member takes a screenshot of a message set to disappear. The feature can be applied to any type of message, including photos and stickers.

All Viber personal and group chats are already end-to-end encrypted, making it one of the best iPhone options for people who want to be able to send secure messages to people on other devices — including Android.

Viber is available for download in the App Store now.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.