WhatsApp has decided to roll back its decision on status video length, and allow people to upload 30 second videos as their status. In March, WhatsApp had introduced a change bringing the duration of these videos down to 15 seconds or less. Longer videos would be split across multiple consecutive status updates. This change was only implemented in India, reportedly to reduce the load on WhatsApp’s server infrastructure. However, this change is now being rolled back.
This increase in video status upload limit to 30 seconds was first spotted by WABetaInfo in the latest WhatsApp for Android beta v2.20.166. All users with the latest update should be able to see it. The report noted that Google may be rolling out the update based on WhatsApp preferences, and you may not see the update on the Play Store immediately.
WhatsApp No Longer Lets You Share Videos Longer Than 15 Seconds as Status in India
WABetaInfo noted that the change is available when you update to this beta, but it might be released for old versions too as server-side update. Users can manually update to the latest beta via APKMirror as well.
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After you’ve installed the latest Android beta, users should be able to upload a video that is 30 seconds in length on their WhatsApp Status. The app will only show a prompt if the video is more than 30 seconds longer. The prompt should then inform users that the video will be trimmed to the first 30 seconds. There is no word on when this feature will roll out in a stable manner.
In a recent beta, WhatsApp was also spotted working on Facebook Messenger Rooms integration. Facebook globally rolled out its Messenger Rooms feature a few days ago and it allows users to group chat with as many as 50 people. Facebook had also announced that the company will integrate Messenger Rooms on Instagram and Facebook Portal but there is no clarity on the timeline.
In 2020, will WhatsApp get the killer feature that every Indian is waiting for? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.