WhatsApp Status Video Limit Reduced To 15 Seconds In India Due To Coronavirus Lockdown

In 2017, WhatsApp released a feature called Status which allowed users to share photos, videos, and GIFs that disappear after 24 hours. At the time of launch, WhatsApp allowed 90 seconds to three minutes of video and if the existing video is larger than 16MB it gives an option to trim the length of the video before sending it. Later the limit was reduced to 30 seconds.




Now, WhatsApp has restricted status videos to 15 seconds in India. You will no longer be able to upload videos longer than 15 seconds. This is a temporary move to reduce the server traffic since a lot of people have started sharing videos in status after the recent lockdown in the country.

Left: Old 30 Sec Status / Right: New 15 Sec Status
(Picture Courtesy: Fonearena)

This is a server-side change which is already rolling out to stable users gradually, so beta users should also see the changes soon. India is currently under a 21-day lockdown that began on March 24.



While most internet servers have said that they are braced to handle the traffic and pressure that is going to come in from a sharp rise in daily usage from people stuck at home and also those who are working from home.

This week, streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, Facebook and other video streaming services in India started lowering video quality from HD to SD quality when content is streamed over cellular connections. YouTube has already made Standard Definition (480p) as the default for streaming content worldwide, including India until April 14, but you can change it to HD once it starts playing.

Source: WABetaInfo