WhatsApp Starts Testing Ability to Transfer 'HD Quality' Photos on Latest iOS, Android Beta Versions

Currently, WhatsApp compresses all sent images and the only known workaround is sharing pictures as documents.

Written by Pranav Hegde, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 7 June 2023 12:50 IST

WhatsApp Starts Testing Ability to Transfer 'HD Quality' Photos on Latest iOS, Android Beta Versions

Photo Credit: Reuters

WhatsApp's HD quality photo sharing feature is currently available for beta users

Highlights

WhatsApp HD photos transfer feature is currently in beta
The feature is expected to roll out in the coming weeks
Users can choose to share standard of HD quality photos

WhatsApp has released a new beta update that introduces the ability to transfer HD quality images within the app. The Meta-owned messaging app has begun testing the feature as part of the latest iOS and Android beta versions of the messaging app. WhatsApp shares a compressed version of any image that is sent by default, which can result in loss of quality for any pictures delivered to recipients via the app. However, the messaging app might soon release a feature that will give users the option to send a higher quality image instead of a compressed image.

Social media consultant Matt Navarra, spotted the feature first and shared a screenshot revealing some details about the upcoming WhatsApp feature. The image shows a new HD button at the top, which can be enabled to transfer a high-quality photo. HD quality photos are clearer but will use more data and storage space compared to a standard quality photo.

WhatsApp has just added a ‘HD' image quality upload feature for some iOS beta users pic.twitter.com/deZgOYKLNd
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) June 6, 2023

Meanwhile, WhatsApp feature tracker WABetaInfo shared additional details of the upcoming feature. It is currently available on the iOS beta version 23.11.0.76 and Android beta version 2.23.12.13.

The feature tracker claims that even after selecting the HD quality option, WhatsApp will apply some light compression. Also, the default option is Standard and users will have to manually select the HD option each time they want to transfer a high-quality image. If a high-quality image is shared, WhatsApp will add a small HD icon to the image thumbnail in the chat.

Currently, the feature is limited to sharing high quality images within conversations. WABetaInfo states that the feature does not allow users to upload HD quality images as a WhatsApp Status. There is also no support for sending HD videos on the app. The only way users can share a video without compression is by sending it as a document, a workaround that also works for sending images without compression.

The feature tracker states that the ability to send HD photos is rolling out to some beta testers who are on the latest version of the app on iOS and Android. The company is expected to make the feature available to more users in the coming weeks.

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