WhatsApp is Won’t Allow Screenshot of a users Profile Picture: WhatsApp’s latest privacy-focused update introduces a significant change: users can no longer take screenshots of others’ profile pictures within the messaging app. This move is part of WhatsApp’s ongoing effort to enhance privacy features across its platform. Interestingly, this restriction extends to the sharing of personal data via one-time views of videos or photos, which also cannot be captured via screenshots by the recipient.

WhatsApp is Won’t Allow Screenshot of a users Profile Picture

The discovery of this update was initially made by The Android Police, though neither Meta nor WhatsApp has officially announced it yet. According to the report, this restriction on profile picture screenshots appears to be implemented server-side, rather than being contingent on specific app versions.

The Android Police investigation revealed that on certain devices, attempting to capture a screenshot of a profile picture triggers a notification stating, “Can’t take a screenshot due to app restrictions.” On other devices, although screenshots are technically possible, the resulting image appears blank.

Testing across various devices using both beta and stable versions of the app confirmed the inability to capture screenshots due to these newly imposed restrictions. However, it’s worth noting that screenshots can still be obtained through the mini pop-up window that appears when a user taps on a contact’s profile picture.

Despite potential workarounds such as using another device’s camera or accessing WhatsApp via desktop, this update represents a significant step forward for the Meta-owned messaging platform in terms of bolstering user privacy. The Android Police report emphasizes that this feature gives WhatsApp a competitive advantage over rivals like Signal and Telegram, which, despite their claims of being privacy-focused, currently lack the capability to prevent profile picture screenshots.