WhatsApp started removing size restrictions for sending files and now allows send documents up to 2 GB. for now it’s a test limited to users from Argentina; however, it would not be unusual for it to soon begin to spread to other parts of the world.
According to The nation, this function is already available in Argentina in its mobile applications, as well as in WhatsApp Web and its desktop client. In this way, the popular messaging platform launched what would be a step-by-step process to remove the restriction on uploading files over 100MB.
The aforementioned report mentions that the choice of Argentina to carry out this test would not be accidental. Apparently, the large number of WhatsApp users in the country – where it is by far the most popular messaging app – and the wide variety of devices used would be key to analyzing the impact of this measure.
A point to note is that while the option is mentioned as only available for documents and will be gradually enabled for photos and videos, it is not necessarily limited to text files or PDFs etc. At the time of writing, I was able to upload a few MP4 clips that were well over 100MB and the process completed without a hitch; To do this, yes, I had to load them from the “Document” section, by touching the paper clip icon.
Farewell to restrictions on sending large files
According to WhatsApp, this decision is linked to the need for users to send large files without compromising its quality. Among the examples, they mentioned cases such as those of companies that have to send contracts of 100 pages or more, or teachers who share compressed files with study materials to their students, among others.
Also, although sending 2GB files is limited to Argentinian users, it is not limited to the exchange of elements between them. This means that someone from Argentina can send a 500MB or 1GB document to someone in Mexico, Spain or elsewhere.
WhatsApp has made it clear that this is a test for now, but it’s unclear how long it will last; Nor is it specified what the extension of this feature to other countries in the world will depend on.
Argentina helped forge WhatsApp as such
What is really striking is that WhatsApp seems to show once again that it has a much closer relationship with Argentina than with other countries. In reality, Jan Kuumone of the app’s creators, said he was inspired by miscommunications during his visits to the South American country to forge the idea that would later become the messaging service.
He assured it in 2017, during a conference at Stanford University. “In 2008, when I was in Argentina, it was very difficult to get people to call me or call other people. I got a SIM card but I didn’t understand how to get them to call me. call me, and the dialing codes and prefixes were too complicated,” said.
Obviously, water has flowed under the bridge. And although Argentina does not have an infallible communication system, it has adopted WhatsApp as a fundamental means of communication for the daily life of its inhabitants. And with the new option of sending documents up to 2 GB, the platform is betting on do not lose space with competitors like Telegram.
