WhatsApp took to Twitter recently to boast about its 100MB file transfer limit, suggesting that you use the app to send large files, rather than your email, but it wasn’t long before rival messaging app Telegram mocked it.
Now, a few years ago, a 100MB file transfer limit would have been seen as pretty generous, especially back in the day when many email services had very restrictive limits on the size of files you could add as an attachment.
- These are the best WhatsApp alternatives
- How to use WhatsApp
- How to use WhatsApp web on desktop or tablet
WhatsApp suggests that if you’re struggling to email a large file, you should use its app instead.
Need to send an email but the attachment is too large? Try using WhatsApp instead, where you can send files of up to 100 MB. #WhatsAppTricks pic.twitter.com/I6gwBmH70SSeptember 12, 2019
While 100MB seems quite large – and is a big improvement over the 16MB limit WhatsApp used to have – modern file sizes are constantly growing, and with more people wanting to send large files – such as high-resolution photos or 4K videos – that 100MB limit may not be enough for some.
Cue the mocking
So WhatsApp has ended up boasting about offering a relatively low data limit, leading to one of its biggest rivals getting in a rather funny dig.
After WhatsApp tweeted “Need to send an email but the attachment is too large? Try using WhatsApp instead, where you can send files of up to 100 MB”, the Telegram Messenger Twitter account replied with “Need to send a message but the attachment is too large for other messengers? Try using Telegram instead, where you can send files of up to 1.5 GB.”
Need to send a message but the attachment is too large for other messengers? Try using Telegram instead, where you can send files of up to 1.5 GB.September 12, 2019
Ouch.
Telegram’s 1.5GB transfer limit is a huge upgrade over WhatsApp’s comparatively puny 100MB. While you won’t want to send or receive 1.5GB using your mobile data, that large transfer limit can certainly come in handy when you’re using Wi-Fi.
So it looks like WhatsApp’s boast was a bit of an own goal, allowing its competitor to enjoy some useful PR at its expense. At the time of writing, WhatsApp’s tweet has 722 likes, while Telegram’s pithy response has gained over 1,100.
Could this public mockery cause WhatsApp to increase its own file transfer limit? Let’s hope so.
