Whether you have an iPhone or an Android, your smartphone likely takes great photos. That's why, in 2024, there's no reason why your high-quality images should look like crap when you send them to friends and family. Different messages platforms handle this compression differently: iMessage and RCS, for example, allow you to send high-quality images by default, while SMS notoriously crushes the quality of your photos.
When it comes to chat apps, however, it all depends on the developer. WhatsApp finally added an HD photo option for sending high-quality images on the platform last year. So, it's a bit of a surprise to see Meta's other popular messaging service, Messenger, just receive this feature as well.
Facebook Messenger's new features
The company announced the change on Tuesday, alongside a few similar, useful features. Unfortunately, there are no details about how high-quality these images will be, or how much compression is still applied. If the feature works like WhatApp's, there's likely some compression involved, which means sending "HD images" isn't an option for sharing uncompressed versions of your photos with your 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 it now becomes the best way to send images in their full quality to your contacts on Messenger.
Also announced on Tuesday is a new shared albums feature: When you select multiple photos from your chat composer, you'll now see the option to Create album. If you already have an album, you'll have the option to add to that album here as well. Finally, you'll now receive a new QR code you can use to quickly add new contacts on Messenger. To use it, go to Settings and tap the QR code icon in the top left.
How to send high-quality images in Facebook Messenger
To use Meta's new HD photo option, choose a photo from the chat composer, then make sure to hit the HD toggle in the top right. You can send multiple photos in HD at once.
However, to send an uncompressed photo, you'll want to send it as a file. Once the feature rolls out to you, you'll find it by hitting the (+) in the chat composer, then from the file icon on the left side of the menu bar. Hit Choose file, then pick 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 this will work.