WhatsApp beta for Android 2.25.12.24: what's new?

WhatsApp has released a new Android update through the Google Play Beta Program, bringing the version up to 2.25.12.24.
What's new in this update? WhatsApp is working on a feature to choose the quality for downloaded photos and videos, and it will be available in a future update!

In the article about the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.7.17 update, we announced that a feature to manage media upload quality was available. This feature allows users to choose between standard and high-quality options when sharing photos and videos, offering greater control over the balance between speed and media clarity. While the standard option ensures faster uploads with reduced file sizes, the high-quality option preserves more detail and visual fidelity, enhancing the overall sharing experience. It appears that WhatsApp aims to provide more tools for managing the quality of shared images, now focusing on those downloaded from chats and groups. Following the release of the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.25.12.24 update, which is available on the Google Play Store, we discovered that WhatsApp is working on a feature to choose the quality for downloaded photos and videos!

As you can see from the attached screenshot, WhatsApp is exploring the implementation of a feature that will let users select the quality for photos and videos that are automatically downloaded, scheduled for release in a future update. This means users will have more control not only over the quality of media they send, but also over what they receive automatically. Specifically, users will be able to decide whether automatically downloaded media should be in standard or high quality, according to their preferences. This marks a good improvement in how automatic downloaded media is handled within chats and groups.

For example, when a user sends a photo in high quality and this feature is available, WhatsApp will also generate and attach a standard quality version of the same photo. Due to end-to-end encryption, WhatsApp cannot alter or process media files to downgrade their quality on the server. For this reason, the sender's device generates both versions before uploading them to the server. If the recipient's settings specify that only standard quality should be downloaded automatically, the app will retrieve the standard version attached to the message. That image or video, still encrypted, will be decrypted locally using the recipient's encryption key and displayed in its standard version.

However, it's important to note that this logic applies only when the image is automatically downloaded. If the user later chooses to manually view a photo that was originally sent in high quality but automatically downloaded in standard, WhatsApp will then fetch the high-quality version, provided it's still available on the server, which retains encrypted messages for a limited time. This system gives users flexibility while helping them manage storage and data usage more effectively. No changes will occur if the user has disabled automatic media downloads.

The main advantage of this approach is that users are no longer forced to automatically download high-quality photos by default, especially in group chats where they might receive many media files they're not interested in. Often, users send HD photos even when it's unnecessary, leading recipients to consume more data downloading large files that may never even be opened. This new feature may fix that problem by giving recipients the option to receive only standard quality unless they explicitly want the HD version. It's a smart way to balance quality with efficiency, particularly for users with limited data plans or slower Internet connections. In case users want to download the HD version but they choose to automatically download only the standard quality, WhatsApp will allow them to manually fetch the HD version later once they tap on the image/video, as long as it's still available on the server.

A feature to choose the quality for downloaded photos and videos is under development and it will be available in a future update. We will keep you updated with an additional article as soon as we have more details to share about this feature.

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