The latest WhatsApp version will finally let you send and receive documents directly over the messaging app. As of now, WhatsApp supports only PDF files and this feature has been rolled out only for Android.
WhatsApp has recently picked up an update that brings with minor UI tweaks which includes features like pinch to zoom for video and an option to share the photos from cloud services including OneDrive and Google Drive. However not many users have noticed that WhatsApp has also included a new feature which would allow you to send documents directly from the app.
This was one of the quintessential
feature WhatsApp lacked. Before if you needed to send a file, you had to rename the file with an extension that WhatsApp recognized and then send it across. For instance, if the file name was "office.pdf" it had to be changed to "office.jpeg" and the same workaround had to be followed by the receiver.
With the recent update, all you have to do is click on the paper clip icon on the top and voila! You will see an option to send the documents directly. WhatsApp has removed the Video button from the shareable media menu and thus it has managed to accommodate the "Document" button, that being said, you can still send the videos by selecting the "Gallery" option.
The addition of Documents to the set of sharable media is going a long way in helping WhatsApp to up its game and rival the likes of other apps including Telegram, which has been supporting document sending and receiving from a long time. Before you rejoice, the new feature does come with a caveat, that is as of now you won't be able to send .docx or.doc file format and can send only PDF files.
The Document Sharing feature is yet to mark its presence on the iOS and as of now it's only available for the Android, but this doesn't mean that you can't send documents to an iOS user. WhatsApp boasts of nearly 1-Billion users and is being used extensively for connecting with people on real-time basis the document sharing option will mean that next time you need to send your college notes or the Office presentation you can just send it via WhatsApp without taking the troubles to mail it. If you want to give this new feature a spin make sure that WhatsApp has been updated to Version 2.12.491 or 2.12.493.