WhatsApp Beta Updates Allow Sharing HD Photos

A common user complaint for the messaging platform, WhatsApp, has been that of sharing low-quality images over the platform. This is set to change as WhatsApp's beta updates for iOS and Android, will reportedly now allow users to send high-quality (HD) photographs. This will be possible even while preserving their original dimensions of the images.

The new updates are focussed on enhancing the user experience on the app. The new feature of improved photo quality is likely to contribute to an overall richer media-sharing experience. This latest update, however, is at present only restricted to beta testers, but is likely to be available for all users worldwide soon.

HD Sticker Will Denote High-res Image

The recent WhatsApp beta updates, iOS 23.11.0.76 and Android 2.23.12.13, feature a new option that enables users to share HD quality images over the app. In these updates, users can choose to send better quality images, while sharing them. However, point to note here is that even though a higher quality in the original dimensions of the image is allowed, light compression is still applied to the photograph.

This is done to ensure a seamless transfer, while also preserving the high quality of the image.

The feature is activated every time a user selects a photo that is originally in high quality or larger sized. The option only appears to choose higher quality for these select large size photos, while the default setting remains "Standard quality."

Thus, the WhatsApp user sending the image must then manually select the HD option. This manual selection has to be done each time they wish to share a photo with improved quality.

A special message bubble appears, marking high-quality images, to help users identify these instantly and easily. Recipients can see this tag, making the photo sharing experience better.

Limited to Photos

A key point to note is that this feature is only limited to in-chat sharing of photographs. It doesn't extend to videos or even statuses.

If users wish to share videos in high quality, they'll have to share them as documents instead.

However, WhatsApp is known to be constantly working on enhancing their media sharing experiences, and after this update, future ones may cater to videos and other media.