WhatsApp is developing a feature for Android that should inspire photo enthusiasts: namely the ability to send photos in their original quality.
The working name for the feature is “Photo quality”, a news portal known for tracking down innovations in Whatsapp.
How photo quality works
As reported by WABetainfo, the new function gives you the option of using an icon in the menu bar above the photo to decide whether the attached image should be sent in “Standard quality” or in “HD quality”.
Until a few days ago, all that was known about the development was that Meta – the company that owns WhatsApp was testing the feature in the Android version.
But it has now been discovered that the option is also being tested in a beta version of WhatsApp Desktop, with a new ‘HD’ icon appearing in the toolbar when you attach a photo to a message.
Currently, there is no option to choose the quality, which means it defaults to “standard” – a lower quality than the original photo.
With the new HD setting, you can send photos at the original resolution and sharpness in WhatsApp from both the Android app and the desktop version.
It doesn’t always have to be the best quality
The fact that WhatsApp is putting the setting in the toolbar makes perfect sense. You don’t have to send every photo in its original size.
Original size photos take up more storage space than compressed photos. Sending a photo in a compressed format should therefore remain the standard setting.
At the moment the option isn’t even available to all beta testers, because development is still in the early stages. And as with all beta features, there’s no telling when the option will be added to the final version of the popular messaging app.
Just a few days ago, WhatsApp testers discovered another exciting innovation in the Android beta version: the ability to share up to 100 media files at once. Again, there’s no word on when that will be rolled out to the public version of the app.
This article originally appeared on PCWelt in German. Translation by Jim Martin
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Author: Hans-Christian Dirscherl, Redakteur
Hans-Christian Dirscherl schreibt seit über 20 Jahren zu fast allen IT-Themen. Sein Fokus liegt auf der Koordination und Produktion von Nachrichten mit hohem Nutzwert sowie auf ausführlichen Tests und Ratgebern für die Bereiche Smart Home, Smart Garden und Automotive.