You will be able to play Facebook and Instagram videos within the messaging app thanks to a new feature that WhatsApp is introducing. You can now play videos that contacts give you through WhatsApp that were posted on either of the two social media platforms without opening the original app.
Users will be able to watch the videos using this new functionality both within the current chat window and when navigating between chats. This functions somewhat similarly to Android’s picture-in-picture mode, which enables you to run programmes in a floating window.
According to WhatsApp’s updated changelog on the iOS App Store, the feature is now available to iOS users. On iPhone 8 and iPhone X, both running iOS 11, we were unable to use the feature despite updating the app.
YouTube is already supported by WhatsApp for in-app playback.
Additionally, the company’s decision to add support is commendable given that Facebook and Instagram are progressively catching up in terms of user-generated videos. The engagement time within WhatsApp, which is already probably one of the highest in the app market, will rise with native playback.
Businesses may also utilise this functionality to share previously prepared lessons and advertisements videos for convenient replay now that the WhatsApp Business iOS app is already being developed. While it makes sense that Facebook Messenger would support Facebook videos, we can also confirm that YouTube videos can be played back natively in the Messenger app.
We anticipate the cross-functionality to soon be available on Android smartphones as they account for a larger portion of WhatsApp’s 1.5 billion monthly users and Facebook is planning to deliver a more uniform experience to all of its apps.
