WhatsApp Is Getting Rid Of One Of Its Most Annoying Restrictions
WhatsApp, the world's most widely used messaging app, has long suffered from an annoying problem. The app does not allow users to send or receive files larger than 100MB in size. While most people who use WhatsApp only to share an occasional photo or a small video claim may not find this to be much of an issue, several others have long complained about this problem — with no resolution in sight. Some have even switched loyalties and moved to WhatsApp's chief competitor, Telegram, citing this very reason.
But it looks like WhatsApp has finally listened to this long-standing feature request and decided to give in. Folks over at WABetaInfo have come across a beta version of WhatsApp that apparently lets people send files larger than 100MB The upcoming version of the app seems to have raised the file size limit to a liberal 2GB.
While the erstwhile 100MB limit was good enough for photo and document sharing, it had become increasingly difficult to share videos on WhatsApp. While the counterargument might be to simply upload to YouTube and share a link, there are occasions when all one wants is to send a video to friends and family without too much hassle, and this is exactly what this feature addition fixes.
Where and how to download this beta version?
According to WABetaInfo, the version of WhatsApp with this specific feature addition has rolled out to a very small group of beta testers — most of whom are from Argentina. Even though most of these users are reportedly on the Android beta channel, the accompanying images appear to have been taken from an iPhone. It is also unclear at this time if WhatsApp intends to broaden the scope of this testing phase and roll the feature to an even larger group of beta testers.
If you're interested in testing this version of WhatsApp, the only way to do that is to sign up for WhatsApp Beta and opt in to become a tester. If you're accepted, there is a chance that you could get to test this feature out once WhatsApp decides to roll this feature out for a larger beta testers group.
There is no time frame for these unannounced features to arrive, though, given that WhatsApp is known to test out certain features for a really long time before they finally think it's ready for primetime. In addition, there have also been instances when some of these features were rolled back on subsequent versions just because WhatsApp wasn't convinced about the usability or stability of these new additions.
If the revised file size feature rolls out to all WhatsApp users in the near future, it would be the latest addition to an ever-growing list of new additions the app has received in the past few months. Some of these features have been in the works for months and include the ability to like and react to messages, the much sought-after disappearing messages feature, and the ability to send photos that can only be viewed once.