WhatsApp finally lets users send GIFs–sort of..

Whether you like it or not, those cyclical animated videos that roam the internet are now a daily event in our online lives. While GIFs were a common occurrence and among popular use on other chat clients like Telegram and Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp was until now somewhat reluctant about jumping onto the GIF bandwagon. Which is why the fact that WhatsApp now allows users to create GIFs from your locally stored videos to easily send them to your contacts comes as a bit of a surprise. This feature is now available on version 2.16.41 for Android. Download here via Uptodown.

Just a sec.. Before we start shooting off celebratory fireworks, it might be wise to keep in mind that you aren’t allowed to send those cool viral GIFs at least, not directly. Meaning, you’ll be able to send your own videos that you yourself have created, with a video editor integrated. Just to be clear, you’ll only be able to send GIFs of videos that are locally stored on your device, then you can send via a tap on the camera icon in the upper right corner. That way, you’ll be able to modify the file format so as to specify the extension of your GIF’s loop.

Also, in order for the video to become visible to the receiver, the person who gets your message must also have the latest version installed. So, if you were expecting the coming of the video-messiah, well, you’re just gonna have to wait. While we were also hoping for something a bit more flashy, like say Twitter’s GIF search feature, or not to mention Telegram’s.. instead we’ve been given this. Let’s just say WhatsApp decided to play it safe and ended up short-changing us by sticking to the basics.