WhatsApp Android app gets some small but very useful changes

WhatsApp is making some minor changes to its Android app, although they’re clearly handy additions (even if one of them is still in beta testing right now).

The tweaks inbound with the latest release version of the Android client include the ability to add captions when sharing a document via WhatsApp, as WABetaInfo reports.

Along with that comes a big increase in the number of photos and videos you can send at once in a conversation. Previously, the limit for this was 30 pieces of media, but that has been upped to 100 (which should be plenty enough for anyone – we’d hope).

Another change to the release version of the Android app means users can now have longer group names (up to 100 characters in total), and a group description that informs people about the purpose of the group.

As for the change that’s still in beta, this pertains to an already existing feature, namely Disappearing Messages (which, as the name suggests, vanish after a set period of time if you select this option).

Also spotted by WABetaInfo, the fresh Android beta has a Kept Messages facility. It allows you to save certain Disappearing Messages (as opposed to the whole chat) and keep them for later reference.

Analysis: Some convenient and handy additions

These are all convenient touches for WhatsApp on Android, meaning that, for instance, you don’t have to screenshot disappearing messages (a somewhat controversial feature, as we’ve discussed in the past) to keep hold of them – rather, they can just be saved out. Remember, this one is still in beta, and by the sound of things, it’s rolling out in stages in preview as not every tester is seeing Kept Messages. (There’s no guarantee any beta feature will make the cut for the final release, though).

It’s also a useful piece of functionality to be able to attach captions to documents, allowing you to provide a bit of info on the file being shared. Regarding the new features that have arrived with the release version of WhatsApp on Android, currently, they are still rolling out across the userbase, so you may not have them right now – but they’ll be turning up soon enough.

Via Android Police [1, 2]