WhatsApp for Android Set to Bring Shared Link Previews
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By Ketan Pratap | Updated: 24 November 2015 18:13 IST
WhatsApp for Android appears set to get a URL preview feature in a
future update. The latest version of the app (v2.12.312) which is now
available from the company's website as well as from APK Mirror adds a
rich preview feature to the instant messaging service, as per reports.
The
rich preview feature however generates a preview for a shared link on
the sender side and doesn't show the preview on the receiver side, which
indicates that the company may still be working on the feature. The
report points out that even if the recipient has the latest WhatsApp for
Android version 2.12.312, the preview won't show up and it will appear
as plain URL.
Gadgets 360 tried the both build 2.12.312 and the
latest 2.12.313 build of the app now (available from the company's
website) for sending a URL but were unable to see any preview on either
side. This indicates that WhatsApp may be testing the feature with
limited users and a wider rollout with the feature can be expected to
hit the Google Play soon.
The report also clarifies that currently
the rich preview only appears for URLs and not for image links. A link
shared from Instagram or Twitter will only show the caption in snippets
with no option to enlarge the preview thus forcing the user to open the
link itself.