The iOS version of the popular messaging app WhatsApp was given an update today that should be warmly received by anyone who frequently travels by subway or finds themselves in areas with spotty internet service. Now, users can queue messages for sending when a network connection isn’t available. Once a connection is reestablished, WhatsApp will now send all of those messages out automatically.
The Android app has had this capability since last year, as StackExchange forum users have pointed out, so this most recent update brings the iOS version to parity. Previously, the send button would only function when your iPhone was online. Post-update, the button is available at all times and pressing it queues the message. It’s a simple but essential tweak for those always on the go.
The app update also carries another much-requested feature: the ability to manage storage in specific chats. In the past, WhatsApp could display the amount of space occupied by different message types — like text, photos, and videos — but it lacked deep, granular control. Now, the Storage Usage screen within Settings has been expanded so users can delete by message type in individual conversations.
Rounding out the new features list, WhatsApp on iOS is now capable of sending out 30 photos or videos simultaneously, up from the previous limit of 10.
WhatsApp’s latest update comes weeks after the company had to refute a report from the Guardian that claimed to have found a security “backdoor” in the messaging platform. In reference to the allegations, WhatsApp told Digital Trends that the supposed flaw the Guardian was referencing was a deliberate design decision made to prevent “millions of messages from being lost.” Since then, various security experts have defended WhatsApp’s explanation, and the Guardian has amended the original article’s use of the word “backdoor.”
