WhatsApp is testing a redesigned picture-in-picture mode (APK Download)

But it still only works with links from Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube

WhatsApp is the most used instant messaging app on the planet, which makes the recent outage all the more frustrating. The fact that it’s owned by Facebook at least means that it integrates really well with the company’s other services, like Instagram and the Facebook app. WhatsApp has a picture-in-picture mode that allows you to play videos shared from Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube without leaving the chat. It’s a feature that I have found pretty useful to skip fully opening links to quickly view some content. Now, WhatsApp is taking the time to redesign its PiP UI, but it kind of feels like change for the sake of change.

The new UI was reported by WABetaInfo, and is now rolling out to people on the latest WhatsApp beta version (2.21.22.3). The redesigned picture-in-picture mode now features video controls in a bottom bar right underneath the video feed. Previously, those controls were overlaid on top of the video feed itself, in a similar fashion to how Android’s built-in picture-in-picture works.

Old vs new

You can see the difference between the old and new designs in the screenshots above. It’s not really gaining any new functionality. The only real functional change compared to the previous design is that buttons now have their own real estate and are always visible. With the old version, you need to tap on the video to get those buttons to show, and they fade after a while. Giving them their own space means you’ll always have them within easy reach.

The same source limitations still apply — you can use picture-in-picture for videos from YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, as well as ShareChat and Streamable. Oh, and it also works for video calls too. If we could have this for actual WhatsApp videos, I, for one, would be a very happy man.

As we mentioned before, this change is not currently live in the stable version of WhatsApp. However, you can download the beta from the Google Play Store or grab the APK to give it a try.

Google Fi is offering switchers $200 plus some Pixel Buds for their Pixel 6 pre-orders

Pixel Pass is also here, but you’ll have to give and take on the promo

Read Next

About The Author