One of the features that made me join Telegram so many years ago was sending bubbly video messages to my friends. In July 2023, all these years later, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that WhatsApp is finally releasing a very similar – not to say the same – feature.
In Meta’s Channel on Instagram, Zuckerberg said that WhatsApp is adding the “ability to instantly record and share a video message in your chats. It’s as easy as sending a quick voice message.” Similar to how Telegram handles this feature, users just need to tap the audio button to change to a camera icon.
After that, users need to press and hold the camera button to start recording and then let go to send the video. Swiping up locks the recording. Users can also switch from the front-facing and back cameras and add visual filters, although it’s unclear what they bring.
As always, from the moment these features are announced, by the time they actually are available to all users, it might take a few weeks and months, so WhatsApp users on Android and iOS must be patient until this quick video messages feature lands on their apps in the coming weeks.
WhatsApp says these instant videos can have up to 60 seconds, will play automatically on mute when opened in a chat, and are protected with end-to-end encryption to keep your messages secure.
Last week, WhatsApp released its first Watch app, but for Android wearOS users. Also, last week, the company started rolling out a long-requested feature, the ability to message someone without saving their phone numbers.
This function comes amid another important update planned for sometime in the future. WhatsApp is currently working on the ability to add usernames to the platform. That way, you wouldn’t need to know a phone number to chat with someone, just their handle. WABetaInfo says this function “may allow users to communicate with businesses privately, thus safeguarding their phone numbers, or perhaps their usage will be even more extensive, allowing private communication with any user.”
Besides that, the messaging app recently rolled out the ability to add your account to multiple devices, including more than one smartphone at once.
As WhatsApp keeps adding new features to its app, BGR will keep reporting them.
