WhatsApp is adding a new way (kind of) to communicate with your friends
We have more ways than ever to communicate with each other nowadays: you can simply text someone, send them a voice message, or compose an email if it is a more formal conversation. What is that? You can also call people on the phone you say? Sure, if you are weird.
Do you know what's not so weird (ironically), though? Sending short, spontaneous, raw video clips. Snapchat was the first to make this communication medium popular back when Snapchat was yet to be robbed and swallowed up by Meta's apps.
While we are on the topic of Meta's apps stealing prominent Snapchat features, WhatsApp is apparently looking of implementing its own jab at video messaging, as spotted by WABetaInfo in a beta update. The new feature was discovered in both the Android and iOS versions of the app, and it is already accessible to some beta testers.
Of course, WhatsApp users already had the ability to send recorded videos in chat, either by selecting one from their gallery or by recording one on the spot and clicking the send button. The video messaging feature, on the other hand, will work more like voice messages.
WhatsApp's new video messaging feature.
In other words, you tap and hold the button while recording, and it will automatically send itself once you remove your finger. Presumably, you would also be able to swipe up to lock the recording in, so you don't have to keep pressing. You should also be able to swipe left to delete.
The new video messaging button will be where the voice messaging one is, and users have to tap once to switch between the two modes.
Safety-wise, these video messages will be end-to-end encrypted, meaning the only people with access to them would be the sender and recipient. Additionally, the one receiving the video message won't be able to forward it to others. The video message will stay in the chat after being sent, however, unless it is manually deleted.
The feature is still in beta, but it is safe to assume something as fundamental as this will eventually come to the stable version of the app sometime in the near future.
Things that are NOT allowed: