Facebook Messenger will no longer reduce the resolution of many photos

Facebook Messenger now allows users to send photos with a maximum resolution of 4096×4096 pixels. That’s a higher resolution than many smartphone cameras. So far, the maximum resolution is 2048×2048 pixels. It is unknown when Facebook will implement the increase in resolution in the Benelux.

In practice, the increase in resolution means that users can send many photos without Facebook Messenger reducing the number of pixels. According to the company, this should result in images that look sharper and according to Facebook, sending images is just as fast, indicating that the app compresses images in an efficient way. Facebook does not disclose how that happens.

The change will first take place in France and the United Kingdom, among others. This requires an update of the app for iOS or Android. Other countries will follow in the coming weeks, but whether and when the increased resolution will be available in the Benelux is not yet known.

The resolution goes up from 2048×2048 pixels, approximately 4.2 megapixels, to 4096×4096 pixels, which equates to 16.7 megapixels. Many smartphones like iPhones and Galaxy S models of recent years take pictures with 4032×3024 pixels, 12 megapixels.

According to the social network, users send around 17 billion images every month via the chat service. In total, according to the company, Facebook Messenger has around 1.2 billion users every month, figures showed a few months ago.