Remember the outcry and general hubbub when Facebook-owned Instagram mimicked, or rather blatantly copied, Snapchat’s picture editing traits? I myself witnessed my Instagram story feed devolve into an ad space featuring everyone’s Snapchat IDs. And while the uproar may have died down, it may rise up once more thanks to WhatsApp.
The current Beta version of WhatsApp includes a new feature that most consumers would recognise; the ability to draw on an image and paste stickers, much like Snapchat and Instagram. And while you could chalk it up to WhatsApp following a trend, the interface is strikingly familiar to the one utilised in Snapchat. Check it out below:
Other than the interface there are some other tidbits that while similar are actually being embraced throughout the industry. For instance, there is now a front facing flash, where the display goes white and to full brightness for a split second to brighten up those selfies and when you take a video you can now zoom in using one finger to slide up and down the screen. However, both these features only work in WhatsApp’s inbuilt camera, which can be accessed by tapping the camera icon next to the chat box; the camera icon in the attachments menu opens your default camera app.
The Snapchat-like image editing isn’t the only thing being tested in the beta version of the app. WhatsApp is also including different sizes for your emojis; singular emojis appear slightly larger than two emojis, which in turn are larger than 3 or more emojis in a line. This is an upgrade to the existing feature where only singular emojis appeared large.
Another interesting detail is the fact that Telegram links no longer seem to be blocked in the beta version of WhatsApp.
