A WhatsApp AirDrop style feature is under development, and from screens discovered inside the latest Android beta, it looks like a rather close copy of the original.
This includes privacy features: As with AirDrop, file transfers are encrypted, and your phone number is not revealed …
WABetaInfo spotted the upcoming feature.
Thanks to the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.2.20 update, which is available on the Google Play Store, we discovered that WhatsApp is working on a new file sharing feature with people nearby, and it will be available in a future update of the app […]
Beta testers will be able to explore a new feature to easily share files with people nearby in the future. This screenshot reveals that both users will need to open this section to send and receive files, ensuring secure sharing within close proximity. It appears that it will be needed to shake the device to generate a share request, maintaining a controlled approach to file exchanges. It’s important to note that sharing is end-to-end encrypted. This means that sharing files remain secure even outside of a WhatsApp chat and in an unknown network environment.
It’s usual for WhatsApp to introduce new features in the Android app ahead of the iPhone app, but it’s likely to come to both platforms. This will enable AirDrop type functionality between iPhone and Android users.
It comes soon after an AirDrop vulnerability came to light, which China appears to be using to reveal the identities of those using the feature to pass on anti-government materials.
In a significant breach of Apple’s privacy measures, a new report says that AirDrop was cracked by the Chinese government, to reveal the phone number and email address of senders.
The anonymity of AirDrop was one of the reasons it has been commonly used by activists to share information about protests, and other information censored by the government
Photo by zhang kaiyv on Unsplash
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