WhatsApp adds 2x speed playback for status videos

Hold your finger on the right side of a WhatsApp status, and it now plays at double speed; lift your finger, and it drops straight back to normal. No settings, no switch to remember to turn off.

This feature is found in the WhatsApp beta version for iOS, which is 26.36.10.70. The latest beta version can be downloaded via TestFlight. This feature was brought to attention by beta testers shw_9876 and Muhammad Hammad.

WhatsApp Status 2x speed update

The status videos have become longer as compared to the previous version since the latest update. The new WhatsApp for iOS 26.35.72 has increased the limit of music video clips from 15 seconds to 30 seconds, meaning some of the status videos now last double as compared to before. 

In case you are the kind of person who scrolls through twelve different status videos during your morning commute, this math is easy to do.

Rather than forcing the users back to a shorter clip time limit, WhatsApp developers came up with a speed control feature.

Simply, press and hold anywhere on the right half of the screen while a status plays, and playback jumps to 2x immediately. There's no delay, no confirmation prompt. Release, and it's back to normal speed within the same status; you can toggle it as many times as you like mid-clip.

It works on any video status, not just the ones with music attached, so the feature has a use case even outside the length problem it was built to solve.