WhatsApp Proudly Presents Improved Document Preview Feature

Shortly after introducing a helpful update that brought around better link image previews, WhatsApp is about to borrow another nifty feature from its rival Telegram. This massively popular instant messaging app is now implementing enhanced document previews. The new option will give users a better idea of ​​what images and videos are inside the document before downloading the file.

Until now, if someone sent you a file on WhatsApp, be it a photo or video shared as a JPEG, PDF, or DOC document, the app only showed a rather confusing preview with generic information such as the file name, file type, and file size. It took you to download and open the document to see what it was. The latest update currently being beta tested will show a more expanded preview with a thumbnail of the file’s contents. It should help WhatsApp users quickly determine what the document contains and decide whether to download it or not.

A similar feature is already available in Telegram, where such previews are of high quality and are displayed to the left of the file name and other file details. In the meantime, WhatsApp is likely to show its previews atop the file, at least, that is what it looks like at the testing stage. The app could still change the layout and design of the new feature before its public rollout.

The new functionality has only been released to Android users of WhatsApp beta version 2.22.5.11, but it should be made available to everyone within the next few weeks, a few months tops. If you cannot wait that long to try it, sign up for the WhatsApp beta program. Be warned, however, that beta software may be unstable and may not work at times.

What are your expectations of the new feature? Do you think the change is long overdue? Speak up in the comments section below, and feel free to share this post with your friends!