WhatsApp on iPhone is rolling out YouTube playback inside chats, so you can watch a shared video without leaving the conversation.
WhatsApp has updated its iPhone app so that tapping a YouTube link in a chat plays the video right there in WhatsApp. Before, the link opened the YouTube app or a web browser. Hindustan Times first reported the change, and Mashable followed.
The update also adds picture-in-picture. That means the video keeps playing in a small window while you do something else. In WhatsApp, you can keep a video going as you move to another chat. The change is for the iOS app, the version made for iPhone.
It fixes a common annoyance. You no longer have to pause a conversation to watch what a friend sent. You also avoid getting pulled into YouTube's autoplay, where more videos keep lining up after the first one ends.
The feature is not switched on yet. WABetaInfo, a website that covers WhatsApp news, believes it will start working tonight. Mashable notes it is unclear where the site got that timing. The reports do not say whether other phones will get the same feature.
WhatsApp is also testing a way to mute videos in chats. The YouTube change stands out because WhatsApp has long been a bare-bones app. Mashable suggests it could be a first step toward something closer to Facebook Messenger, which is more integrated with other services. That is only a guess for now.
If you use WhatsApp on an iPhone, YouTube links should soon play inside the chat, though the feature was not yet switched on when this was reported.
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