WhatsApp continues to push the capabilities of its built-in Meta AI further. Following the recent release of document sharing support for Android users, the platform is now testing the same functionality on iOS. This could soon allow iPhone users to share files with Meta AI for deeper analysis and context-aware feedback.
Document Sharing Is Restricted to Beta Testers As of Now
According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is finally expanding document sharing with Meta AI on the iOS front. The feature was spotted on the latest WhatsApp Beta version 26.20.10.72, which is available on the TestFlight app. One of the other recent additions was WhatsApp Plus on iOS briniging more themes and pinned chats
Before the functionality rolled out to anyone, Meta AI was limited to text prompts and processing user photos for image manipulation. With the addition of document sharing, Meta is expanding the arsenal with a feature that has been available on competitor AI chatbots like Gemini and ChatGPT for quite a while now.
Users needing help with files previously had to manually download or take screenshots of them and paste them into chats as images. This prevented the assistant from using its full contextual abilities. By introducing native file uploads, that limitation is finally being addressed.
As for how it all ties together, sharing files with Meta AI is very similar to sharing pictures. All users need to do is open the chat attachment sheet by tapping on the "+" icon within a Meta AI conversation and selecting the "Document" option. Alternatively, users can also share files directly from other apps into the Meta AI chat.
Once uploaded, Meta AI will then analyse and file, and when done, users can ask the chatbot to summarise the document, explain specific points or work on a problem outlined in the file. Besides Document uploads, WhatsApp recently rolled out a Reading Timer feature for disappearing messages on iOS.
That said, the feature is currently only limited to WhatsApp Beta testers on iOS. However, Meta is expected to gradually expand access to more users over the coming weeks. The feature definitely adds more value to the chatbot on the WhatsApp ecosystem and should prevent users from migrating from third-party AI platforms.
