WhatsApp enhances message, media features
IN a recent update, WhatsApp has expanded its message pinning feature, allowing users to pin up to three messages in both individual and group chats. This enhancement comes following announcements from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and WhatsApp head Will Cathcart.
In contrast to the past restriction of pinning a single message per conversation, users are now granted the ability to pin an extensive range of message formats, such as polls, images and text.
Long-pressing a message, selecting “Pin” from the menu, and selecting the desired duration are all that are required to pin a message. Messages can be pinned for seven days by default, with options for 24 hours or 30 days. Unless otherwise specified, messages are automatically unpinned after the specified duration has passed.
With these features, it has improved user accessibility by allowing direct navigation to the pinned message within the conversation.
Along with this, in a group chat, administrators can permit members to pin messages, with all group members receiving notifications when a message is pinned. However, those joining a group after a message is pinned, as well as those who do not have the chat history or deleted the message before pinning, would not
be able to view the pinned message.
Additionally, WhatsApp has introduced a new feature that simplifies sending photos in higher quality. Previously, users had to manually select the desired resolution for each image, which was cumbersome.
Now, a new Media Upload Quality toggle in the Storage and Data menu allows all images and videos to be sent automatically in HD quality. Users
can choose between standard quality for faster delivery with compressed files or HD quality for higher resolution, albeit with larger file sizes.
Although the feature is currently available to select beta testers, it is expected to be rolled out to the stable version after any remaining issues are addressed. To gain access to these new features, users are encouraged to update their app via Google Play regularly. - by