WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that offers your newest photo or video when you open a chat. It saves a step, but it can surface things you did not plan to share.
WhatsApp is adding a feature called Recent Media Suggestions on Android and iOS. When you open a conversation, the app offers the newest photo or video on your phone, so you may not need to open your gallery at all. It is rolling out gradually, and it is switched on by default once it reaches your account.
Until now, sharing a fresh photo meant leaving the chat or tapping through to your gallery. With this feature, WhatsApp puts the latest media file right in the conversation. One tap brings it up. The goal, as the report describes it, is to cut the time spent hunting for a picture you just took or a video you just saved.
According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is testing two designs. Each user will get only one of them.
Tapping a suggestion does not send it. Instead, WhatsApp opens its drawing editor so you can look at the photo or video first. You can add a caption, stickers or other edits, then send. You can also close the editor if you change your mind. That means an accidental tap should not put a file into the chat.
The suggestion is not limited to pictures from your camera. WhatsApp simply picks the most recently added media file, whatever its source. That can include screenshots, downloaded images, photos saved from other apps and videos in your gallery. A screenshot of a bank page or a private message could show up in a chat with a coworker or a relative. Glance at the thumbnail before you tap anything.
If you would rather not see suggestions, the setting is easy to find. Open WhatsApp Settings, go to Chats, and turn off Recent media suggestions. After that, WhatsApp will stop showing these recommendations in your conversations.
The feature is available to some users on the latest versions of the Android and iOS apps. A wider rollout is expected over the coming weeks. WhatsApp has not announced an exact date for general availability, so if you do not see the option yet, it may simply not have reached your account.
WhatsApp may soon offer your latest photo in every chat, so check the preview first or switch it off under Settings, then Chats.
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