WhatsApp is working on its own file sharing system

WhatsApp is adding loads of new features every year, but an upcoming feature might confuse you. Of all the features people have been asking for, WhatsApp seems to be working on a feature that lets people share files wirelessly. This feature apparently works on devices that are near each other.

WhatsApp could make it easier to share files wirelessly between Android and iPhone

WhatsApp is working on the ability to let people share files wirelessly. This is on top of file-sharing systems that are already present on Android smartphones and iPhones. As spotted by WABetaInfo, the beta version (2.24.2.20) of WhatsApp for Android features the file sharing feature that works on devices nearby, and they both must have the People Nearby screen open to send or receive files. If people don’t have the phone number of the other person nearby, their devices won’t be visible to each other.

Moreover, to create a sharing request, one of the two people who want to share files wirelessly with each other needs to open the People Nearby screen and shake their device. This reminds us of a file-sharing iPhone app called Bump that was quite popular in 2011. This upcoming feature apparently supports up to 2GB file sizes. This feature is still being tested internally at WhatsApp and could be released to users sometime later this year.

As far as we can understand, this file-sharing method could be useful only when sharing files between Android devices and iPhones. Otherwise, the native file-sharing methods on Android (Quick Share) and iOS (AirDrop) are easier and faster to use. Quick Share was recently merged with Nearby Share to make things easier in the Android ecosystem.