A photograph or a video can be sent hidden. It arrives covered by a shimmering surface, and the recipient taps it when they are ready to look.
Spoiler text is well known; the media version is not, and it is the more useful of the two because an image reveals itself the moment it appears on a screen.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Send a photograph or video hidden behind a tap.
- check_circle Use it for the cases that are not spoilers at all.
- check_circle Know what it does and does not prevent.
- check_circle Choose it over the alternatives deliberately.
The cover is applied before sending, from the attachment screen, and the recipient chooses when to lift it.
visibility_off An image cannot be unseen
Text arrives as a block you can choose not to read closely. An image arrives whole, in one glance, and by the time you have decided you did not want to see it you have seen it. That asymmetry is the entire reason this feature exists for media and matters more here than for words.
So the useful cases are not really spoilers. They are: a result somebody may not want yet, a surprise, something graphic, a photograph that would be awkward if it appeared while somebody was showing their phone to a colleague.
Applying it is part of sending: attach the media, mark it as a spoiler, then send. It cannot be added afterwards, which is worth remembering because afterwards is when people think of it.
What it is for, and what it is not
The right-hand column is the one to be clear about before relying on it for anything.
visibility_off What the cover is for
lock_open What it is not
It asks are you ready, never are you allowed. Caption it, or it is a dare.
settings Sending one
- Attach the photograph or video as usual Then stop before sending.
- Mark it as a spoiler From the send screen; it cannot be added afterwards.
- Write a caption saying what it shows That is what makes it a courtesy.
- Cover the revealing part of the text too Using the text spoiler.
- Do not rely on it for anything sensitive One tap removes it.
- Use auto-delete or content protection instead When the requirement is real.
This page hides an image behind a tap. The curriculum step is the difference between hiding and protecting: content restrictions in a group, what they actually prevent, and why no setting stops a photograph of a screen.
At a glance
- 1Photo spoiler
Hide a photo or video behind a blur until tapped.
- 2Beyond spoilers
Use it for sensitive or surprising images.
- 3Before sending only
It cannot be added after the photo is sent.
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