Billions of WhatsApp users are set to receive an optional new feature that could hike up their mobile phone bills.
WhatsApp, which is the world's most popular messaging platform, is rolling out a new feature that will allow users to send much higher-resolution photos and videos. This will mean no quality is lost when things are sent from phone to phone.
But there's one catch, the Mirror reports. Sending High Definition (HD) content will use up a lot more data than standard files, so if you leave the option switched on you could soon use all your allocated data, meaning your bills could go up.
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For example, a standard quality photo uses around 2.2MB of data but this rises to almost 5MB if posted in HD quality, more than double the size.
With many WhatsApp users sending hundreds or even thousands of files to each other over the years, it could add up very quickly and even leave you with less storage space on your phone.
Fortunately, Meta seems to have thought of this. According to WABetaInfo, "standard quality" is always the default option for any video sent unless you select the high-quality option.
On top of that, high-definition videos and photos that you receive will be marked as such.
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