WhatsApp is getting bigger, bolder link previews

WhatsApp is working on implementing bigger link previews. The news comes out courtesy of the folks at WABetaInfo who love to dig into the app and figure out what the devs have in store for fans before the features are made public.

This may seem like a trivial change, but it should be a helpful one nonetheless. WhatsApp currently squishes previews into four or five lines with a tiny thumbnail (if any). Comparatively, Telegram displays way more text and larger images, giving you a better idea of what you're about to get into before you open the link.

When the change that WABetaInfo discovered lands, WhatsApp previews should look a bit more like Telegram's with a large thumbnail and, hopefully, more room for text.

Video and photo quality 

WhatsApp might be facing stiffer competition than ever from the likes of Telegram and Signal, but it remains one of the most popular ways to communicate with your friends and family. A recent beta version hinted at some upcoming improvements to video compression, and it looks like images are getting the same treatment.

WABetaInfo found another feature under development in WhatsApp beta for Android 2.21.14.16. Another iteration was recently submitted to Google Play, pushing ahead with adding new customization options for sending all sorts of media. The previous version revealed new settings in the works to adjust the quality of video files, and this update extends the same preferences for photos.

All three of the tiers available for videos are also here for photos, including "Auto," "Best Quality," and "Data saver." If and when both options are made accessible to actual users, you'll be able to change how images and videos are sent under the "Media upload quality" section in "Storage and data." Currently, that section doesn't exist in any available version of WhatsApp.

Since both features remain under development, neither are available to the public just yet. Though we still don't know for sure if "Best quality" keeps some level of compression, hopefully, we won't have to wait too long to test the feature out for ourselves.