Whether you use an iPhone or Android, your smartphone can probably take great photos. That's why in 2024, when you send high-quality images to friends and family, they won't look like garbage. Different messaging platforms handle this compression in different ways: iMessage and RCS, for example, allow you to send high-quality images by default, while SMS is known to degrade the quality of photos.
However, when it comes to chat apps, it all depends on the developer. WhatsApp finally added an HD photo option to the platform last year for sending high-quality images. So it's a bit surprising to see Meta's other popular messaging service, Messenger , also getting this feature.
What’s new in Facebook Messenger
The company announced the change on Tuesday, along with a number of similarly useful features. Unfortunately, there are no details on how good these images are, or how much compression is still applied. If the feature works like WhatApp does, there might be some compression involved, which means sending "HD images" isn't an option for sharing uncompressed versions of photos with friends.
On the other hand, Meta also announced that you can now send files up to 100 MB from your phone. This is also a similar feature to WhatsApp and now it becomes the best way to send full quality images to your contacts on Messenger.
Also announced Tuesday is a new shared album feature: When you select multiple photos from the chat editor, you'll now see a "Create Album" option. If you already have a photo album, you can also choose to add to it here. Finally, you will now receive a new QR code that you can use to quickly add new contacts on Messenger. To use it, go to Settings and tap the QR code icon in the upper left corner.
How to send high-quality images in Facebook Messenger
To use Meta's new HD photo option, select a photo from the chat editor and make sure to click the HD toggle button in the upper right corner. You can send multiple HD photos at once.
However, to send uncompressed photos, you need to send them as files. Once the feature is rolled out to you, you can find it by clicking the (+) in the chat editor, then clicking the File icon on the left side of the menu bar. Click Choose file and select the photo you want to send. Depending on your phone, you may need to add the photo to a file management app on your device before it can be used.
