WhatsApp is about to get an image search feature

Like pretty much all instant messengers these days, WhatsApp allows users to send each other images through the app. Unfortunately, this has resulted in issues like misinformation where images can be spread very quickly. Thankfully, an image search function could be coming to WhatsApp in a future update.

This is according to a report from the folks over at WABetaInfo. According to the report, in the future, when users receive an image from another user, there will be an option for them to search for the image on the web. This is essentially like a reverse image search that you find on other search platforms like Google.

Image credit – WABetaInfo

So why is this a big deal? Say you received an image that contains a photo or text that seems a bit suspect. With this WhatsApp image search feature, you’ll be able to look up that image on the internet to find its origins or to find more context about it. This is actually pretty useful and seems to be an extension of an earlier WhatsApp feature that allowed users to search for links on the web.

That being said, this feature isn’t live yet for most users. It was spotted in the beta so if you’re participating in the beta, you can check it out. If you’re not, then you’ll have to wait for WhatsApp to eventually roll out the feature eventually.