Last week we saw how Whatsapp was testing its ‘Search Image’ feature which would let the users search for any image they send or receive in chats. Now, the Facebook-owned instant messaging app has reportedly submitted the beta version of its upcoming update which will support an in-app browser. Being a beta version, the new feature is still in development and is disabled by default.
The new beta version of Whatsapp (version number 2.19.74) was spotted by WABetaInfo and it will come with an in-built web browser (much like mini version of Chrome). The in-built browser will let the user open the links sent to him or sent by him in the chat. Earlier, when the user received any web link, he would be guided to select a web browser to open the link. Once selected, the browser would open the link and guide the user to the webpage.
According to the report on WABetaInfo, if the user chooses to use the in-app browser on Whatsapp then he should not worry about data loss. Furthermore, Whatsapp or Facebook will not be able to access the user’s search history because the feature uses an Android Application Programming Interface (API). This API feature lets the system manage everything and the developers of the feature at Whatsapp or the parent company Facebook won’t be able to see or access the user’s in-app web search history.
The new feature will also be able to detect the unsafe web pages as it uses the ‘Safe Browsing’ feature which was introduced to Android 8.1 in 2018. In Safe Browsing mode, the users would get an alert when they reached a web page infected with malware and malicious content.
The report also mentioned that Whatsapp won’t let the users natively take screenshots or capture videos while using the in-app browser. Currently, it is not known if the app will let the users take screenshots when the feature is rolled out officially. The new update and feature will require Android 4.1 or newer to work. But Whatsapp has reportedly intends to roll out the new feature to everyone once it is out of its beta programme.
The beta version of Whatsapp version 2.19.74 is available for user-testing and can be downloaded through the Google Play Beta programme.
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