WhatsApp Borrows a Fun New Feature From Google Images

In an age where AI can generate images that seem to fuse the gap between artificial and reality, there’s a greater need for authenticity checks on mass social media platforms like WhatsApp. 

That’s where WhatsApp’s new measure comes in. As more people get easy access to AI image generators, it becomes easy to share misleading information via images on large WhatsApp groups. These tools, if left unchecked, can fall into the hands of miscreants and scammers, thus creating havoc. 

However, WhatsApp’s smallest addition to the app might make a huge impact on those who seek to cross-check the sources for images shared in large groups. The new feature seems to be inspired directly by Google’s Image Search and could make a huge difference to the overall user experience. 

Without further ado, let’s take a look at WhatsApp’s next big feature. 

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WhatsApp image search coming soon

WhatsApp users will now be able to do an image search from within the app. In one of the latest reports from WABetaInfo, it is said that Meta is testing a new version of WhatsApp that allows users to perform an image search. 

The feature can be accessed once you open an image within WhatsApp. In the enlarged view, users can summon the three-dot contextual menu and look for ‘Search on web’. Once you hit the button, WhatsApp will throw up a prompt, confirming whether you want to go ahead with the search. 

Sadly, the report doesn’t mention anything on whether WhatsApp is relying on Google’s Image Search function to carry on the image search or using Meta’s servers to do so. The reliability aspect of the in-built image search is still under a question mark. It also remains to be seen whether WhatsApp’s image search feature can tell apart AI-generated content from actual photos and illustrations. 

Nonetheless, WhatsApp’s ‘Search on web’ feature could come across as a useful tool in the future to stay away from misleading images and quickly get to know the sources. The days of downloading an image and manually uploading it to Google Images’ search box will be beyond us. 

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When is ‘Search on web’ coming to WhatsApp?

The ‘Search on web’ WhatsApp feature is currently available to beta testers and once it clears the hurdles, it should be hitting the stable release in a matter of few months. The feature should be coming to Android users first and eventually arrive on iOS.

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