Update: WhatsApp voice messaging is getting a huge upgrade.
WhatsApp is reportedly testing an upgrade that will enable users to send an receive files up to 2GB in size.
That’s according to regular WhatsApp code miners WABetaInfo, which reported that this boost in file size is being put through a limited beta test in Argentina.
If the testing is successful, this may be quite the upgrade for the Meta-owned messaging service. Currently, WhatsApp limits you to 100MB file transfer. That was once a hefty amount of megabytes, but over the past few years, high resolution photos and videos, among other things, have seen files balloon in size.
Raising the file size limit to 2GB means that WhatsApp users could send much larger files, such as 4K video clips or a gallery of high resolution images, say those taken on a 108MP camera like that on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Larger file size limits could also boost WhatsApp’s utility as a collaboration tool, letting people share large documents flush with images to trusted people outside of their business network. As WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, this could be one way to securely share such files.
However, given the limited testing of this feature, there’s a chance it might never make its way into the full version of WhatsApp.
“WhatsApp is starting a small test in the last few days, and some people can now share media files up to 2GB!” noted WABetaInfo. “Unfortunately, this is only available in Argentina and it is limited to a certain number of beta testers. In fact, we don't even know if WhatsApp is planning to roll out the same feature to more people in the future, since this is a test. WhatsApp may even roll back the changes by restoring the previous limit after the test: only time will tell.”
We’d be cautiously optimistic that this file size upgrade will come to the full version of WhatsApp. But we’d expect the roll out to be at a slow pace, likely so WhatsApp can monitor if the new file size limit could be abused, with people dropping large files on their contacts just to suck up their internet bandwidth or use it to transfer sensitive information to places that information shouldn't be sent.
