On November 22, several tech bloggers revealed that WeChat has officially released the 8.0.54 version update, introducing a new feature called "Automatic Cleaning of Original Images and Videos After 14 Days," which is being rolled out in a limited beta test.
As the name suggests, after enabling this feature, users can temporarily view and save original images and videos within WeChat for up to 14 days. After 14 days, the system will automatically clean up these files. However, users will still be able to access lower-resolution versions of the images and videos.
An original image in WeChat typically takes up nearly seven times the storage space of a standard-quality image. Once this feature is enabled, a 97.4MB video, for example, will automatically be reduced to about 3MB after 14 days, achieving a compression rate of 97%. Users can find and activate this feature under Settings > General > Photos, Videos, Files, and Calls in the WeChat app.
Currently, this feature is in the beta testing phase, and only some users can experience it.
In previous versions, images from older chat records were automatically deleted by WeChat if the original versions were not manually accessed in time, making them unavailable for viewing. With this update, WeChat adds an option to enable or disable automatic cleanup.
Source: ExpatLink
