WhatsApp has come a long way since it was launched in India around 2010. The past 7 years has seen it grow manifold to become India’s leading messaging platform. Even Facebook’s takeover of WhatsApp has not diminished its popularity despite the initial privacy concerns.
Along the way to becoming the no.1 messaging app, it has added many useful features like the ability to share documents, images, videos and media, real-time location. Quite recently it has added or will be adding new services & features like;
- The ability to retract or delete a message in a conversation, even from the recipient’s phone.
- The ability to make Group Video Calls.
- Make and receive payments through the chat window.
And WhatsApp is showing no signs of slowing down. It has recently added two new features to its IOS app, which will make it even more convenient to use. No doubt these features will also make it to its Android app soon.
Watch YouTube Videos Without Leaving WhatsApp
This is one of the features which has been recently added. It is quite common to receive YouTube Video Links in our WhatsApp conversations. If you click on the said link, it will either open the video in the YouTube app or in YouTube’s website. In either case, you will be thrown out of WhatsApp. It can be irritating for most of us.
Now WhatsApp supports a Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode which will play the YouTube video in a floating window inside WhatsApp itself. The video will continue playing even when you move to a different chat window.
This is a convenient feature as it will now enable you to move between conversations even as you are watching a YouTube video.
Record Longer Voice Messages Without Holding Down The Record Button
The second new feature is also a convenience feature. Presently, if you want to record and send an audio message in WhatsApp, you have to continuously hold the record button. The length of the message is also limited. The new feature overcomes both these shortcomings.
Now you can just swipe up on the record button to lock it down and continue recording without having to hold it down continuously. This will also allow you to record longer messages than before.
What Does The Future Hold?
These new updates are available in WhatsApp’s version 2.17.81 in the App Store. These updates were first picked up by WABetaInfo.
They have also said that WhatsApp is working on some newer features like;
- Ability to seamlessly switch from a voice call to a video call, while a voice call is in progress.
- Ability to directly mute a video.
WhatsApp is not yet done adding new features for its over 200 million monthly active users in India and 1.2 billion users worldwide. So far WhatsApp’s future is looking exciting.