Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- WhatsApp is working to bring audio to its screen-sharing feature.
- This could make for improved screen-sharing in scenarios like presentations.
- It’s possible that this could also enable watch parties via WhatsApp.
Meta has brought a host of features to WhatsApp in 2023, including the long-awaited screen-sharing functionality. The one downside to this feature is that you can’t share your audio with others. Now, we’ve spotted evidence that this could change in the near future.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
Code
New: Listen to video and music audio together
When you screen share, audio you play on your device will also be shared with people in your call.This would be a welcome addition to screen-sharing on WhatsApp, allowing for device audio in presentations, during troubleshooting calls to your parents, and more.
We also wonder whether this addition could enable watch parties, allowing users to watch movies and TV shows together. There aren’t any strings specifically mentioning watch party capabilities, though, so don’t hold your breath for this. Furthermore, streaming services usually don’t make it easy for people to view their content via screen sharing. In saying so, Amazon offers its own watch party functionality, but the host and participants all need Prime memberships. This still theoretically leaves the door open to WhatsApp-based watch parties for local videos stored on the host’s device.
We’ve asked WhatsApp for a statement regarding this feature and how it works. We’ll update our article if/when the company responds.
