WhatsApp photo function: advantages - and where caution should be exercised

Facebook's WhatsApp can be found on millions of smartphones, because the messenger app offers many options. The photo functions integrated in the app are particularly practical, but they also have serious disadvantages

If you just want to send a photo to parents, friends or acquaintances, you don't have to hold the moment with the photo app of the mobile phone: In WhatsApp from Facebook there is a photo function including editing options built in, which even allows videos to be recorded and cut directly .

WhatsApp photo: lower resolution, poorer picture quality

As practical as it all is - the Messenger app takes photos with a lower resolution than the photo app of a device: a WhatsApp photo usually has a resolution of 901 x 1600 pixels, while a photo app takes pictures with a resolution of 1242 x 2688 pixels. The image quality is therefore worse, small details are often not recognizable. WhatsApp also zooms in directly when taking pictures, which is not a problem in itself. But: The Messenger does it digitally and not, like other photo apps, with the telephoto lens of the device. This also significantly worsens the picture quality.

Images are sent faster via WhatsApp

The fact that WhatsApp basically compresses all sent pictures - including those taken in the photo app - has both a good and a bad side: On the one hand, the pictures are sent quickly, even if the Internet is not in top form. On the other hand, compression also worsens the image quality. This is problematic, especially if the picture is to be saved not only for a short amusement, but as a nice memory.

This problem does not only exist with WhatsApp, other messenger services such as Telegram, iMessage or Facebook Messenger also compress sent pictures. Compression can be bypassed, but the image must first be converted into a document - and this is expensive.