There are very few apps that I use every single day. WhatsApp is one of them, and I have to say that I’ve likely been using it every single day for the last decade or so. Over the years, I’ve watched the feature set of the app continue to get richer and richer—sometimes they’re hits, sometimes they’re misses.
I love following the updates that are spotted in the beta versions of WhatsApp, and today, there’s been a newer one found to be in the works. Soon, you’ll be able to essentially reverse image search any image that was sent to you over WhatsApp, and I can think of quite a few places this might come in handy, so let’s get into it.
WhatsApp Beta Introduces A New “Search On Web” Feature For Images In Chats
If you managed to get into the beta program for WhatsApp, you’re a lucky person. Over there, you get quick access to some of the features that are intended for WhatsApp, but yet to be released to the public yet, since they need to go through a user testing phase. If you pay a lot of attention to WABetaInfo, you’ll be able to spot some of the new features coming to WhatsApp, and that’s where we’re bringing this new one from.
This new feature will give you the power to reverse image search an image that was shared with you in the WhatsApp app. For instance, if your friend sends you an image and you want to see if it exists elsewhere on the internet, you can simply open the three-dot menu, click on “Search on web”, and then WhatsApp will take you straight to Google to check if that image exists already.
Some users have already reported spotting this image in the newest beta version of WhatsApp, so we can definitely tell that this feature is going to be available to everyone in a matter of months.
This Feature Could Be Useful; Might Help Reduce Scams
I won’t be surprised if you’re scratching your head and wondering what the point of this feature is. Well, let me elucidate this for you. We live in a world with a whole lot of misinformation. Someone might post one AI-generated image as satire, but before you know it, it has been shared thousands of times and lost all necessary context.
A feature like this will serve as a background check for such an image, and it should be able to show you where it was originally posted. This would be able to tell you whether an image started out as a joke or whether the image has been detached from critical context which completely changes the message.
Another instance: many people do a lot of buying and selling on WhatsApp. Let’s say you’re talking to a seller who supposedly has a PS5 and sends you a picture of it—unbeknownst to you, he stole the image from another seller. Using this feature will give you the power to very quickly and conveniently reference that image on Google and find out whether someone has posted it before, saving you from getting scammed.
