WhatsApp Launches Instant Video Messages – CNET [CNET]

Want to liven up your conversations on WhatsApp? The Meta-owned company behind the popular chat app began rolling out the ability to record and share short personal videos directly in chats. Instant video messages will be available to everyone in the coming weeks, according to a Thursday blog post from WhatsApp.

“Video messages are a real-time way to respond to chats with whatever you want to say and show in 60 seconds,” WhatsApp said in the post. “We think these will be a fun way to share moments with all the emotion that comes from video, whether it’s wishing someone a happy birthday, laughing at a joke or bringing good news.”

A video posted on Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg demonstrates how recording and sharing a video message will work: You can use the existing voice message feature or tap the icon to switch and record video. Pressing and holding the video camera icon records your video, and you can also swipe up to lock and record hands-free. There’s an option to flip to the front-facing camera, see how much time has elapsed and slide to the left to cancel, and the video is circle-shaped, according to the clip shared by Zuckerberg.

Video messages are protected with end-to-end encryption, according to WhatsApp. In a chat, the messages play automatically on mute, and tapping starts the sound. Video messages will remain in your chat history until you delete them.

Meta has been focused on bringing new features to WhatsApp over the last few months, including channels to follow people and brands, locking your intimate chats, editing sent messages, Wear OS integration and the ability to use WhatsApp across multiple phones and move your messages to a new phone. 

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