Windows Phone 7.8 version of WhatsApp to get new features

It looks like the Windows Phone 7.8 version of WhatsApp is due for a major update. We got a look at some of the features that will be making it into the app thanks to WPCentral and its sources. The WP 7.8 version of WhatsApp will be keeping the same Audio API that it has been using so far for the sake of keeping connections, but the app will be getting other new features. The audio API has been re-written and optimised to be “much faster” in the new update.

The WP 7.8 version of WhatsApp is getting new features

The reason the WhatsApp team has kept the API there instead of scrapping it in favour of a new one is because the team feels that it is a good way to fix the uploading problem. With the update, if you attach a video or a large photo and minimise the app, the upload will continue in the background because of the audio API. The Windows Phone 8 version of WhatsApp will be ditching the audio API because the new OS can apparently handle background tasks better than WP 7.8.

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Other features that will be making it into the expected new version of WhatsApp for Windows Phone 7.8 include support for new chat smilies, link to voice call, square notifications, fast resume, double wide tiles and better support for larger inline images. The square notifications part is a bit interesting, since we don’t know what it means, but it could presumably mean support for Live Tile updates.

As of now, there is no fixed release window for the new WhatsApp app on Windows Phone 7.8, but it seems to be nearing completion. A safe estimate for the release window would be some time in June.