WhatsApp is soon to add a new feature and it's one that many will have had on their wishlist for years. You will soon be able to view YouTube videos in chats rather than just send links back and forth.

The new feature was discovered in the latest WhatsApp update for iOS, but is currently hidden and not active. The team at WABetaInfo found it however, and activated it to see how it works.

At present, it uses the picture-in-picture capability of iOS to view YouTube videos without technically opening them. Tap on the embedded still and it opens a separate PIP clip.

You can then pinch the video to expand it or you can open it in a new WhatsApp section to watch it in full screen mode.

Whatsapp image 2
WABetaInfo

There is no word yet on when the feature might be made public - it's clearly still in testing mode. It is also likely that it requires iPhones 6 and above to work, says WABetaInfo.

We also don't know whether WhatsApp plans to bring the feature to other operating systems, such as Android.

Still, it seems that WhatsApp is finally bringing itself up to speed with many of its rivals, that can already play YouTube vids in a chat window. And we're very happy about that.