In this article
Put two fingers on a photo in the chat and spread them. The picture grows where it is, you can move around inside it, and letting go drops it back into the message.
No fullscreen viewer, no black screen, no coming back to find your place in the conversation. For the twenty times a day you need to check one detail, that is the whole difference.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Inspect a photo or video without leaving the conversation.
- check_circle Move around inside a zoomed image.
- check_circle Know when the gesture is not enough and to open it properly.
- check_circle Use the same idea on a computer.
The chat stays where it is behind the picture, which is why nothing is lost when you let go.
zoom_in A look, not a visit
Opening a photo properly is a small commitment: the screen changes, the conversation goes away, and coming back means finding where you were. Most of the time you did not want any of that. You wanted to read the street name in a screenshot, or check whether the receipt says Tuesday.
The pinch keeps you where you were. The picture expands over the chat, you look, you release, and the conversation is exactly as you left it — same scroll position, same draft in the box.
It works on videos while they play, on GIFs, and on pictures in an album. It is the kind of gesture you only have to be told about once, because the first use makes the habit.
Four times you reach for it
Three are what it is for. One is the case where you should open the picture properly instead.
search Reading something inside a picture
view_stream Halfway through a long chat
smart_display While something is playing
fullscreen Open it properly instead
Pinch when you want a glance; open it when you want to do something.
settings The gesture
- Find a photo, video or GIF in the chat The preview in the message is enough; nothing needs opening.
- Put two fingers on it and spread them The picture grows in place.
- Drag to move around While still holding.
- Lift your fingers It returns to the message and you are where you were.
- Tap to open it if you need more The viewer is for saving, forwarding and browsing an album.
This page is one gesture. The curriculum step is the family it belongs to: press-and-hold previews of chats and links, peeking at a message without marking it read, and the whole set of ways to look at something without committing to it.
At a glance
- 1Pinch to zoom
Zoom into a photo or video in the chat.
- 2Move around
Drag with two fingers to pan.
- 3Open it fully
Tap to open for finer detail.
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