WhatsApp introduced the ephemeral photos that can only be viewed once last year. However there was no protection for the photos. The users could take screenshots of them and they could open them repeatedly using WhatsApp Web/Desktop. That’s over now. WhatsApp no longer lets you take screenshots of ephemeral photos but there are alternatives to save them.
The update also stops the user for viewing ephemeral photos on WhatsApp Web, protecting the privacy with several layers. You will only be able to open them on your mobile phone and from there you can’t take screenshots. However, check out for these alternatives to save ephemeral photos on WhatsApp.
Save ephemeral photos on WhatsApp with root
In case you have root access on your device, you can view and save ephemeral photos on WhatsApp as many times you want. And the other person won’t know. The reason behind this is that WhatsApp stores the photos in the mobile storage, but in a folder you can’t access unless you use root permissions and file manager.
If you have root access, you can use a file explorer like MiXplorer and navigate through the folders until you reach the one where WhatsApp stores the ephemeral photos. The specific folder is data/data/com.whatsapp/files/ViewOnce.
The folder contains JPG files with the latest images that can only be viewed once that you have sent or received. It shouldn’t be difficult to find the most recent one. You don’t need to open the ephemeral photo for it to be stored, you just have to download it by opening the chat and it will be on the folder.
Use Xposed to take screenshots
Another way to disable the screenshot protection is using the Xposed Framework modules. You need to use root access and download the Xposed Module, Magisck and LSPosed. There you will enable WhatsApp configuration and restart your device. After doing this you will be able to take screenshots in the viewer of photos. The configuration blocks the interference of Android and WhatsApp and lets you capture the screenshot. The other person won’t know that you took a photo.
Take a photo with another device
The last alternative to save WhatsApp ephemeral photos is the least elegant. But it’s universal and doesn’t require root or any other complex setup: take a photo of your mobile screen. Of course it’s not the same. And yes, the photo may not look great, but it’s very simple.
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