WhatsApp is stepping up its game by allowing us to send crisper, “HD” quality images. Yep, you read that right. Mark Zuckerberg, the big boss at Meta, gave us the scoop on his Instagram channel. He was like, “WhatsApp’s photo-sharing just leveled up! Send your pics in HD now.”

If you’re wondering when you can flaunt your high-res pics, hang tight. The update’s rolling out globally in the coming weeks. Whether you’re team Android, iOS, or you’re chilling on the web, this feature’s got you covered. And here’s a cool thing: when you get an HD image, there’ll be a tiny icon letting you know it’s in high-def. Oh, and for those video buffs, HD video support is just around the corner!

Once you’re in the HD club, you’ll spot a neat little “HD” gear icon when you’re about to send a pic. Shoutout to WABetaInfo for the early peek; they showed it off in some beta version screenshots. And if you’re into version details, it first appeared for the iOS folks on 23.11.0.76 and for the Android peeps on 2.23.12.13.

Thanks to WABetaInfo’s sneak peek, we now know there’s a “photo quality” menu that pops up when you tap on that shiny new HD icon on WhatsApp. You’ll have two choices for your photo resolutions: the good ol’ standard quality, which is 1600 x 1052, and the swanky HD quality that sits pretty at 4096 x 2692.

Now, here’s where things get a tad fuzzy. Meta’s been a bit hush-hush about the nitty-gritty of image compression. So, if you’re wondering how these HD WhatsApp images stack up against those from Apple’s iMessage or other platforms, we’re in the same boat. But hey, for all the privacy buffs out there, rest easy! The HD images still come with WhatsApp’s trusty end-to-end encryption.

But what if you’re stuck with a sluggish internet connection? Fear not! If an HD image is taking eons to download, you can opt for the standard quality version. And speaking of defaults, WhatsApp will still send images in standard quality, so don’t fret about your phone storage getting clogged after one too many group chat photo bombs.