WhatsApp is always improving its platform with innovative new updates, and it may finally be about to solve a long-standing complaint with an update that lets users select video upload quality when sending someone a video within the messaging app.
If you're anything like us here at T3, you'll probably feel that WhatsApp’s video upload quality is an area that’s been forgotten about over time, while other features have moved forward with new updates. Fortunately, that all looks set to change.
First spotted by WABetaInfo, the alleged new feature lets users choose video upload quality. Though it isn’t yet active, the report showcases a new interface that lets users choose between ‘Best Quality’ mode, a ‘Data Saver’ mode and ‘Auto’ mode when uploading videos.
Each mode looks fairly self-explanatory, enabling users to pick the quality of the video upload by saving bandwidth or, alternatively, giving them the option to send a video without heavy compression. This is something that's been amiss in our existing WhatsApp smartphone applications — and certainly something we would welcome.
The lack of this ability to share high-quality videos on current WhatsApp versions has definitely been a hindrance for such a popular messaging platform — and has led some users to jump ship to the best WhatsApp alternatives. There's no word yet on any limits that could be imposed on videos uploaded in 'Best Quality' mode, and it'll be interesting to see if ultra-high quality content like, say, 8K and 4K video will undergo any level of compression.
Either way, the news appears to positively signal that WhatsApp is wheeling away from being synonymous with poor video quality. With the feature still under active development, we've likely still got a while to wait before we'll be exchanging crystal clear video content with our friends on one of the best iPhones or best Android phones. However, it's reassuring to know that WhatsApp could be looking into changing this soon after a long hiatus of progress in this area.
The existing method of shrinking the size of the data on a video file often leaves videos poorly rendered when shared in WhatsApp's chats, so we're optimistic that this new feature may give users more control over what quality they can share video content in, making it much easier on everyone's eyes.
