WhatsApp, a popular messaging app, upgraded its sharing capabilities and now allows users to send images and videos in full quality without compression.
The update comes as the app has been allowing users to send photos in 4K resolution for several months now. Meta announced in August that WhatsApp users would be able to send images in 4K resolution by tapping an "HD" icon before sending the file.
WhatsApp Upgrades Sharing Capabilities
While this particular option allows photos to be sent in higher quality, they are still compressed and reduced to a resolution of 4096 pixels on the longer side for a smaller storage size. This feature was first introduced in the app's version 23.11.0.76 on iOS and 2.23.12.13 on Android.
The social media company is now rumored to go one step further with the update to version 23.24.73. Instead of just compressing images and videos less than before, it would allow these files to be sent without being compressed at all, as per Notebook Check.
In order to achieve this, users must select "Document" instead of "Photo and Video Library" after tapping the "Plus" button next to the text input. They will be given the option to select images or videos. WhatsApp advised that users should only send files that are no larger than 2GB.
The rollout of the newest update for the Apple iPhone is already underway, which means that the first users will already have access to the feature. On the other hand, others should be receiving the update within the next couple of days or weeks.
It remains unclear when the function will be offered to Android users, however, but it usually takes no longer than a few weeks for new features to be rolled out for other WhatsApp versions. The latest version of the messaging app also introduces new speech bubbles that indicate missed calls and new reactions to messages based on users' avatars.
Send Images and Videos Without Compression
The new update to sending images and videos comes as WhatsApp has been notorious for low-quality media transfers. Sending these files without compression is possible because they are treated as standard data files and are now transformed into previews for the chat window, according to Engadget.
Prior to the public release of the new update, it was being tested by a small subset of users in November. WhatsApp has also been testing sending photos and videos without compression for Android users since at least September.
There have been some workarounds in the past that allowed users to send full-resolution photos and videos via the messaging app. These involved manually changing the files' extensions to PDF or DOC. Removing that extra bit of hassle provides a more streamlined process for users and gives them an easier way of sharing high-quality media, said The Verge.
The latest update marks the newest in a series of experiments for Meta's WhatsApp this year. In August, there was a dedicated Mac app that had video calling capabilities for up to eight people as well as a Windows client earlier in the year.
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