Photos shared on WhatsApp could soon look much better

WhatsApp has over two billion monthly active users, making it among the most popular messaging apps worldwide. It is used for sending more than just messages, though. People also use it for sharing photos and videos. To help minimize server load and save space on your phone, WhatsApp compresses all photos shared through it. The problem is that the resolution of the shared images is heavily reduced, limiting their usefulness. This could soon change in the future if the latest release of WhatsApp beta for Android is anything to go by.

WABetaInfo reports that WhatsApp is working on enabling sharing of photos in their original quality without any compression. The publication spotted the feature in testing in WhatsApp's beta for Android 2.23.2.11. When sharing pictures, a new setting icon in the drawing tool header will allow you to change the image quality to original before they are sent. The new option is unlikely to be available for videos.

In mid-2021, WhatsApp tweaked its image sharing options and added Auto, Data saver, and Best quality options. The difference in resolution between the two modes was minimal, though. Photos shared in Data saver quality were sent as a 0.9MP image, while in Best quality, they were sent at 1.4MP resolution. In this day and age, such low-resolution images are of limited use.

The ability to share photos in their original quality in WhatsApp is long overdue and would be a welcome addition. Telegram, one of WhatsApp's primary competitors, compresses images by default, but it provides an option to share pictures in their original quality.

Currently, there's no clarity on when WhatsApp plans to introduce this feature to the public. It is seemingly still under development and should appear on the beta channel before making its way to everyone.

:story: Android Police