You're in the middle of the desert with no food, no water, but a scrap of 3G that manages to connect to the WhatsApp group chat. The only problem, apart from your imminent downfall, is the mountain of videos awaiting a download. What do they all contain? Why is this taking so long? So many questions, and yet so little bandwidth to provide you with answers. Well, thanks to the folks at WhatsApp, this familiar scenario of viewing videos just got that little bit easier to negotiate, Digital Spy said.

The messaging giant will no longer require you to finish downloading a video before watching, meaning you can now face the tribulation of rationed buffering instead of a prolonged wait.

Of course, this feature is nothing innovative, with YouTube incorporating the whole stream-while-you-watch business for its entire existence. With the Facebook-owned app recently rolling out its long-awaited video calling feature, though, improving downloads feels like a natural progression.

With that said, it will only be available on Android initially, with iOS seeing the rollout in the coming days (or weeks).

So, essentially, you can now work out which videos are a complete waste of your time in seconds rather than potential minutes, Digital Spy said.