WhatsApp iOS version gets YouTube integration and picture-in-picture support

Apple iPhone users can now benefit from WhatsApp's new feature which will allow the device owners to view YouTube videos without having to leave the chat. iPhone or rather iOS devices with WhatsApp are now getting YouTube integration feature that further makes the user experience better. Besides, it has been a while since the Facebook-owned messaging app was planning to bring this feature to its chat interface. The feature was also only available to beta users.

However, now it has been released publicly to iOS users and the new feature which can be described as YouTube PiP (Picture-in-Picture) support feature, comes with the latest version (v2.18.11) of WhatsApp. So users can visit the App Store and either download the new version or update the app.

WABetaInfo was the first to spot the new feature and the publication has also stated that the update comes with certain bug fixes as well as improvements. On testing the new feature, the YouTube video appeared in a small pop up window. Earlier, if a YouTube link was sent via the messaging app the link would be redirected to the YouTube app installed on smartphones.

However, now the video basically plays in a picture-in-picture mode. The floating window can be moved and placed anywhere on the screen and it can also be resized using pinch-to-zoom gesture. We also got an option to open the video in fullscreen mode while the chat window remained hidden. The window also offers options like play/pause, and close.

On fiddling with the feature more, the YouTube video continued to play even after exiting the chat window. The video also continued to play when we opened another chat window. It seems that this feature allows you to multi-task within the app. However, the video closes once you leave WhatsApp.

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If you want to try and play a YouTube video on WhatsApp, you can just ask some to send you a video URL in a chat and once you receive the msg you can click on it to get the video bubble.

While it seems like a useful feature, as of now there is no word on when this update will be rolled out for Android users.