WhatsApp has had a small but useful feature for a couple of years now, and it’s one that you may well not know about, but will likely use a lot once you learn about it.
If you haven’t guessed from the title of this article, the feature in question is HD photos and videos, so in other words the ability to send photos and videos in HD quality.
For photos, that means 4096 x 2692, rather than the 1600 x 1052 resolution offered by standard quality, and for videos, you’re getting 720p rather than 480p — so if you’re shooting 1080p or 4K videos then this still isn’t full quality, but it’s a definite upgrade.
Below, we’ll explain how to do this, both for individual files and as a persistent setting.
How to send HD photos and videos on WhatsApp
To send an HD photo or video on WhatsApp, first open the chat that you want to send the file to, then if you’re taking a new photo or video, hit the camera icon. Then take the photo or shoot the video and tap the ‘HD’ icon. Doing this will then let you choose between standard and HD quality.
If you want to attach an existing photo or video, then on iOS tap the ‘+’ icon followed by ‘Photos’, while on Android you’d want to tap the paperclip icon followed by ‘Gallery’.
In either case, you should then select any photos or videos that you want to send, then tap the ‘HD’ icon, and tap the send button.
Note that if you’re using mobile data then it might ask you to confirm that you want to continue sending HD media without Wi-Fi, in which case just tap ‘Continue’.
How to set HD quality as the default
The above approach lets you choose whether to send photos and videos in HD each time you send one, but if you just want to default to HD, that’s an option too. For that, just do the following:
- 1. Open WhatsApp and tap the ‘Settings’ tab
- 2. Tap ‘Storage and data’
- 3. Under the ‘Media quality’ heading, tap ‘Upload quality’
- 4. Tap ‘HD quality’
How to auto-download HD photos and videos
The above covers how to send HD photos and videos, but if you want to automatically download HD versions of photos and videos that are sent to you, then there are some other settings you’ll want to tweak. For this, do the following:
- 1. Open WhatsApp and tap the ‘Settings’ tab
- 2. Tap ‘Storage and data’
- 3. Under the ‘Media quality’ heading, tap ‘Audo-download quality’
- 4. Tap ‘HD quality’
Things to bear in mind
Be aware that obviously HD files are larger, so if you’re using mobile data and don’t have an unlimited plan, you might want to stick with standard quality. Plus, HD files will take up more space on your device and in your cloud storage if they’re being backed up.
HD photos and videos also therefore take longer to send, so on a slow connection, standard quality can be preferable.
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