WhatsApp for Android is getting another update, this time completely revamping its in-app camera interface so that users will actually want to take and share photos.
Previously, the popular messaging app's built-in camera was far from impressive. It was functional — users could open the feature and snap a photo to send — but that was pretty much it. It had a dated blue shutter button in between the flash and selfie mode icons that were not displayed all the way to the bottom of the screen. This made the icons feel intrusive.
Now, the redesigned camera interface features a more modern and sleek design, displaying its icons like other messaging or photo apps. Instead of a blue shutter button, users will now have a white one, where they tap to take a picture and hold down to record a video just like Snapchat. The flash and switch icons also appear whiter and more bold as part of the redesign.
Once the user takes a photo or records a video, the caption screen will appear. This screen has also been revamped to have a more transparent caption section, as well as to display the photo in full-screen.
To send the message, previously, WhatsApp users would see an "x" button to cancel or "check" to send. Now, the in-app camera features a bluish-green arrow button to send. If the user doesn't want to send the media, they can tap on the new arrow located to the left of the recipient's name on the upper-most top of the screen.
The changed camera interface is available via the 2.16.4 and 2.16.5 beta versions of WhatsApp. The redesign of this feature is expected to hit the Google Play Store for the public in a few days.
While the camera redesign isn't a huge new feature, WhatsApp recently added formatting features that allow users to now use bold, italic and strikethrough in their messages. As part of the app's version 2.12.17 for iOS and 2.12.535 for Android, users just have to type specific symbols before and after the word or phrase to format it. For example, add asterisks before and after the word (*bold*) in order to bold it.
WhatsApp is available to download for free for iOS and Android.
Source: Android Police
Photo: downloadsource.fr | Flickr
