Anyone who likes to take and share a lot of photos will probably agree that AirDrop is a great feature, but its Apple-only status is limiting. Now, WhatsApp could give it a run for its money across devices. The company is apparently working on a new update that would allow users to share files with nearby devices. WABetaInfo reports.
The new WhatsApp feature is currently in development (it hasn't even reached Beta testing yet), so while we don't know when it will be available, we have a good idea of what it will look like. For starters, users will likely need to shake their device to activate a request and, of course, be very close to the other person. The recipient must then open WhatsApp and also shake their device to see and accept the sharing request. We don't know how close the pair will have to be, but AirDrop has a range of about 30 feet for context.
WhatsApp's security measures extend to sharing, as files (which will likely be primarily photos and videos) will be end-to-end encrypted. The platform will also keep phone numbers private when users share files with anyone outside their contacts. While much of this reflects AirDrop, it's unclear whether files will automatically download to the user's camera roll or work over Bluetooth only. WhatsApp currently allows you to send 100 photos at a time via normal messaging, so we'll have to wait and see how this feature is different.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/whatsapp-may-soon-offer-its-own-airdrop-like-file-sharing-feature-125542333.html?src=rss
