WhatsApp introduces a new and useful feature directly in the app. With one condition

WhatsApp has launched a very useful new feature for iPhone users that allows scanning of documents directly from the app.

This option eliminates the need to use external scanning applications and meets the growing needs for rapid sharing of documents in digital format.

WhatsApp: How the new scan option works

The process is very simple and intuitive.

Open WhatsApp on iPhone, tap the “Plus” button on the bottom bar and select “Documents”. Here you will find three options: “Choose from files”, “Choose photo or video” and the new option “Scan document”.

The system can automatically detect and capture documents, which is especially useful when we need to scan with one hand.

For more precise control, we can switch to manual mode.

Important limitations and capabilities

Although the feature is still in its infancy, it allows scanning up to 24 pages into a single PDF document.

WhatsApp also offers some basic editing tools, such as cropping, filters, rotation, and the ability to rescan certain pages.

An important point to note is that documents are not automatically saved locally on the phone, but can be saved manually using the “Save to Files” option.

What’s missing and what’s next

Currently, the feature is only available to iOS users who have the latest version of the app installed (24.25.80).

For best results, it is recommended that you place the document on a flat surface and ensure that there is adequate lighting.

Unfortunately, the feature does not include advanced capabilities such as optical character recognition (OCR) or the ability to add digital signatures.

WhatsApp continues to improve its services

The platform has integrated ChatGPT, added the option to mark all messages as read and is working on implementing native translation of conversations.

While document scanning is currently limited to iOS devices, expect more users to gain access to this useful feature in the coming weeks.

For Android users who need to scan documents, there are several free scanning apps that allow direct sharing via WhatsApp.

It remains to be seen when this functionality will be extended to devices with this operating system.