WhatsApp, the most popular instant messaging service in the world, is finally going to introduce a very important feature that many have wondered why it had not been included from the beginning. There are changes in its beta version for iPhone. According to a report from WABetaInfo, the latest beta update for WhatsApp for iOS adds a crucial security feature (among others) that was recently introduced in Android, which will prevent other people from downloading user profile photos.
Since WhatsApp is not a social medium, but a personal communications platform, the profile photo on WhatsApp is essentially arranged for the identification of users, and not in the same line as on social platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. Even social platforms such as Facebook have begun to impose restrictions that prevent profile photos from being downloaded, due to the increase in incidents of misuse and cyber abuse on the Internet.
First, on Android
Now, WhatsApp will finally disable the feature that allowed users to copy, download or share photos from others’ profiles. Before, it was enough to touch the image and select the button “save to device”. This move seems to be inspired by the growing need to protect user privacy. However, it is important to note that WhatsApp has not yet imposed restrictions to prevent screenshots from being taken, which would really help make the platform more secure, and prevent any possible misuse of user identities.
This privacy feature was first introduced in the latest Android stable build update, and since it has now landed in the beta circle of the app on iOS, hopefully it will appear soon in the stable build.
And more news
Apart from this, the update has also introduced improvements to the album and adjustments to the audio export format. WhatsApp tracker WABetaInfo found that the app now shows the total size of the album and the number of items it contains.
WhatsApp traditionally uses the voice message format called Opus, which is not used by many other applications. In this beta update, WhatsApp introduced a solution that exports Opus files in m4a (or AAC codec ). These features were implemented in the new beta version 2.19.60.26 application for iPhone through the TestFlight program.
WhatsApp, in its previous Android beta update, introduced “Consecutive voice messages”, a function that allows automatic voice message queuing. Also set “Forwarding information” that allows the user to know how many times a message has been forwarded and “Audio information” that shows the name of the audio messages that he forwards or uploads natively. These features are only available in WhatsApp Beta for Android version 2.19.154.
Thus, the changes in the latest beta version of WhatsApp for iPhone include improvements for the transmission of videos, improvements to receive notifications of messages and improvements for the voice-over.
Did you know that WhatsApp is the most used application in Spain?
According to the 2019 Annual Study of Social Networks carried out by IAB Spain, 88% of users – over 25 million – use WhatsApp as their first and repetitive option , since it is the one we spend the most time with, almost two hours a day.
After WhatsApp, the most used applications in Spain are Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, in this order, being the social network that has grown the most in Spain, Instagram.
