WhatsApp is making a change that could make organising data much easier, with the ability to see storage directly from the chat window.
The beta feature was spotted rolling out to Android phones last week.
It could make organising storage simpler, as large files will be visible within the chats they were sent to.
So if you have a chat that is taking up a lot of space, say a group chat that has spammed you with too many clips of the Traitors, or just hundreds of photos of things to buy and sell, you can easily mass delete.
The change was first seen by WABetaInfo, which tracks changes to the popular Meta messaging app.
They said: ‘This feature is designed to give users quicker access to their shared media without having to navigate through the general storage settings.
‘It allows them to view, sort, and delete large files on a per-chat basis, helping to free up space more efficiently.
‘By integrating this functionality directly into the chat interface, WhatsApp simplifies storage management and encourages users to keep their conversations organised in real time.’
Seeing the storage of individual chats is already possible from Settings -> Storage and Data -> Manage Storage, but the update will make it more accessible without having to jump throguh these hoops.
You can also already see ‘Media, links and docs’ directly from the chat, but it doesn’t tell you exactly how much storage they take up.
What else is new with WhatsApp?
Last month, Meta also introduced message translation, where you can long tap a message in another language and get a translation.
Previously you’d have to copy and paste it into another app, which was cumbersome and annoying.
But the new feature in WhatsApp still isn’t especially seamless, as you have to scroll down various menus to get to the translation (if you’re reading this, developers, please just let us turn on an option to one-tap the message to get a translation, like in an Instagram caption).
In August, WhatsApp also announced new scam protection features after deleting over 6.8 million accounts as part of a crackdown on ‘criminal scam centres’, most of them in South East Asia.
They also brought in ads for certain users in June.
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