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The WhatsApp user community have been asking for GIF support for a very long time. With the ability to send and create GIF’s now finally available Whatsapp have gone one better and incorporated the ability to search your favorite GIF websites directly for sendable content.
If you aren’t familiar with either of the two original additions they are quite simple. The first option to send GIFs is by creating your own GIF, using your phone’s camera, remembering it can be no longer than 6 seconds. The second option for sending .GIF’s from Whatsapp is to save them to your device from your favorite sources. If you would like to find out exactly how to use this feature we have a complete how to guide here:
This brings us to the newest addition to the Whatsapp GIF arsenal. Having the ability to search for GIF videos directly from WhatsApp itself. If you are too lazy to keep a stash of GIF files on hand or are lacking the space to do so, as gif files sometimes take up quite a bit of space, you are going to love this new feature. It’s also quite easy to use, once you know where to look for it. If we have captured your interest, follow along as we show you how to use this new addition.
Searching GIPHY and TENOR for Gifs directly from your Whatsapp App.
The first thing we need to mention here is that you do not have a choice which of the two services you get to use, as it's pre-decided on your region or location. From my test run of the function here in Central Europe, Whatsapp is using TENOR, other places such as the USA and Australia could quite possibly be using GIPHY. At some stage, however, Whatsapp will most likely add the ability to switch between the two. In order to start using this function, you will need to make sure that your device is currently fully up to date, running the latest version. Once you have updated Whatsapp open it on your Device.
With the app open in front of you open one of your existing chats or create a new one by going to your contacts list and searching for someone you wish to spam with your new endless arsenal of GIFS. When you have the conversation window open in front of you, you might notice that nothing has really changed. This is not the case the sneaky little GIF function has been added in a slightly odd place. Down in the chat box where you would normally type a message tap on the emoji smiley face, then at the bottom of the emoji screen, you will see 2 icons, a smiley face and a GIF icon, tap the GIF icon.
Doing this will bring up a few random GIF animations, to search for a specific GIF tap the search icon in the bottom left corner, using this search box type in whatever you wish to search for (you will notice inside the search box which of the following 2 services Whatsapp will be using)
When you have your search items displayed, scroll left to right as the window will close if you try to scroll up or down. Now just tap the GIF you would like to send, add a caption then send it using the green send button.
If you do not yet see this function in your WhatsApp, it is possible the latest version is not currently available in your area, you can download the APK file here:
If you are not sure how to use APK files let us show you how:
How to install APK files on your Android devices.
