WhatsApp May Soon Allow Users to Select Quality of Videos Before Sharing Them With Contacts

WhatsApp is testing allowing users to decide to share videos in high-quality, according to a report. The new feature is said to be a part of a WhatsApp for Android beta release. WhatsApp users at present don't have the option to decide on what exactly the quality of videos they wanted before sharing them with their contacts. The instant messaging app currently has a maximum file size of 16MB for all media forwarded through its platform.

WABetaInfo reports that WhatsApp for Android beta version 2.21.14.6 has been released with the feature called ‘Video upload quality' that will allow users to choose which quality they want to pick for video sharing. A screenshot shared by WABetaInfo suggests that users would get ‘Auto (recommended)', ‘Best quality', and ‘Data saver' as the three preset options to choose from.

The ‘Auto (recommended)' option would detect the best compression algorithm for specific videos, while the ‘Best quality' would be to force WhatsApp to send videos in their highest available resolution. However, the ‘Data saver' option would be specifically for people who don't have a high bandwidth network and are fine to share videos in their compressed form.

WhatsApp appears to have a 'Video upload quality' feature in the works
Photo Credit: WABetaInfo

Users switching to the ‘Best quality' option may need to wait for a longer time for the videos to reach their contacts on WhatsApp, depending on the network speed they have and the hardware they are using. However, it would enhance the resolution to provide a better viewing experience.

WhatsApp may provide the reported feature under its Storage and data settings. It is also important to note that the feature is currently under development and is likely to be available through a future update.

At this moment WhatsApp doesn't allow users to send videos that are over 16MB in size, which is equal from about 90 seconds to three minutes, as the company has mentioned on its FAQ pages. It is unclear whether that size limit will continue to be in place when the new high-resolution feature debuts.

Earlier this week, WhatsApp was spotted testing a ‘View Once' feature for images and videos that disappear after they are seen. That feature appeared on WhatsApp for Android beta version 2.21.14.3.