Meta says it’s fixing ‘HD’ photo sharing on Facebook Messenger

Facebook launched the ability for Messenger users to share 4K photos in 2017. Now, Goal announced that users can share HD photos on the app. Confused? We were too, so we asked about it. The short answer is that, here, HD means 4K, and now 4K photos are… more 4K?

Facebook Messenger communications team representative Liz Sweeney clarified in an email to On the edge that photos shared in 4K (specifically, 4,096 x 4,096 pixels per inch) were previously more compressed and their appearance “depended on the network conditions of the sender and recipient.” Now, Sweeney says they won’t be as compressed and users will have a new “HD” button that allows 4K sharing. And if you don’t tap the button, photos will be shared in 2K.

Messenger will also allow users to share files up to 100MB in size. This is up from the previous 25MB limit, which should make sharing videos easier as they won’t need to be broken into smaller chunks before uploading. (For context, a minute of iPhone video I just recorded at 1080p and 60fps in SDR is about 170MB.)

The company says it is also adding a new album sharing feature that allows users to create shared albums of photos and videos for group chats, so people can collect images from, for example, group trips. Here are the steps to create and name albums in group chats:

Meta writes that anyone in the group can edit the album, including adding or deleting images. Group members can also download album items. The company says the feature “will be rolling out in the coming weeks,” so if you don’t have it, you might be further down the line.

Lastly, the company launched QR codes and links to connect with people. So if you are out and about and don’t want to bother adding someone’s phone number to your contact list. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to the first person who asks me for my Facebook Messenger QR code. Just kidding, I have a son. I don’t go anywhere after 7pm.