Popular social messaging application WhatsApp has just received a new update for Android smartphones. WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new picture-in-picture (PIP) mode. This mode would no longer stop a video from playing whenever the user switches an application. Another new WhatsApp feature is improved multimedia sharing which will help users in avoiding accidentally sending media to the wrong contact.
The Picture-in-Picture feature has been notably a part of WhatsApp for Android users since December last year. However, up until now, the feature was enabling the playback of videos on the small, pop-up window only in individual chats and group conversations. This was unlike the experience on WhatsApp for iPhone that rolled out back in January last year and allowed users to continue watching a video in a pop-up window even while switching from one chat to another simultaneously. Therefore, the PiP experience on the Android version of the app was drastically inferior to the one on WhatsApp for iPhone.
This upgrade is still under development phase on the beta version of WhatsApp for Android version 2.19.177 and is expected that this feature will soon be landing in the stable version of the app. The company has not revealed any release date as of yet. It is also not confirmed whether the app will release an update for iOS users or not.
WhatsApp has also recently revealed that it will soon start taking legal action against users sending too many messages. It will take action against companies and individuals using WhatsApp for bulk messaging. WhatsApp also clarified that bulk messaging is against its policies.