The most recent WhatsApp update for Android and iOS enables the sending of any file type to other users of the messaging service.
File attachments were limited to a selection of files up until now. This meant that you could not send any file type not supported officially to other users of WhatsApp.
This was a clear disadvantage in comparison to messaging services like Telegram or Skype which supported the sending of any file types for a long time.
The most recent update to WhatsApp introduces the functionality, but it may not be clear right away how it is used.
Note: You need to make sure that the most recent version of WhatsApp is installed on your device, as the functionality is only available in those new versions. You need at least WhatsApp Messenger 2.17.254 or later for the functionality.
Sites like APKMirror host the new version already, and you may download the latest version of WhatsApp from the site if you cannot use Google Play update or download the latest version from Google Play.
Send any file with WhatsApp
Once you have made sure that you run a version of WhatsApp that supports the sending of all files, you can get started right away.
First thing you need to know that there are file size limits in place. While you can send any file type, Android users may send files up to a 100 Megabytes in size, and iOS users files with a size of up to 128 Megabytes.
From there, it is just a matter of opening a chat, tapping on the attachment icon next to “type a message”, and selecting the document option from the menu that opens.
While it still reads document, it is no longer limited to document formats. It would probably be best if WhatsApp would rename the option to File instead to make that clearer. The file that is sent is then displayed in chat with its type and name.
One interesting application for the new file sharing option is that you can now use it to send images without having those images compressed by WhatsApp before they reach the recipient. If you attach images directly, these images get compressed. While that is not a problem as long as you view the image on WhatsApp only, it usually won’t look fine if you display the transferred image on a larger display, or print it. Simply select documents and then the images that you want to send to avoid that from happening.
Now You: Which messenger do you use predominantly?
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