WhatsApp has given its users a new way to keep sharing their everyday
experiences with their contacts with its newly revamped Status feature.
The overhauled
WhatsApp Status feature
– which has been rumoured for a long time – completely changes the way
you the Status function of the app works. So, instead of the boring
old ‘Hey there, I’m using WhatsApp’, you can share videos or other
multimedia content with your friends and family using
WhatsApp. Moreover, you can update your status multiple times a day, keeping the engagement level high for your content.
What’s New in WhatsApp Status?
To encourage this increase in engagement with the popular app, your
Status will no longer be a boring text message – instead you get to
express yourself using a short video.
But videos are not all, as you can also share photos and GIFs as your
WhatsApp Status. These WhatsApp Status updates will be visible to all
your contacts using the app, and will disappear after 24 hours.
WhatsApp Product Manager Randall Sarafa told Gadgets 360 that the new
WhatsApp Status combines three existing features – broadcast lists,
media sharing, and, of course, Status.
WhatsApp Becoming More Like a Social Network
The WhatsApp Status videos look similar to
Instagram Stories, which in turn was of course heavily ‘inspired’ by
Snapchat’s
feature of the same name. The new Status implementation by WhatsApp
represents a move away from the traditional messaging app model that the
company had by and large stuck to until now, and is an attempt to add
more social-networking capabilities to the messaging app.
The essence of the revamped WhatsApp Status is that you broadcast
regular updates to your friends, who then share their comments or
reactions. The one difference here is any replies that your friends send
to Status updates are visible only to you, in your Chat with that
friend, with a message that indicates which WhatsApp Status update they
are replying to. In contrast, the replies and comments you get on
Facebook updates, Instagram posts or tweets are visible to everyone.
WhatsApp UI has been updated to accommodate the new features. With
video now meant to be a big part of the WhatsApp experience thanks to
Status updates, the built-in camera gets a prominent icon of its own.
The idea behind the change, Sarafa says, is to get users to share stuff
with people “without thinking about which chat window to share it with”.
So, instead of first picking a chat and then triggering the camera from
there like you typically do, you are now encouraged to shoot first, and
figure out the sharing options later.
How to Use New WhatsApp Status Features
As you would expect,
Status gets a tab of its own, in between
Chats and
Calls. It’s easy to create Status messages, especially if you’ve used the aforementioned Stories feature in either Snapchat or
Instagram. WhatsApp Status updates you create are visible to your contacts by default, though you can change them to
My contacts except… or
Only share with… as well.
Within the Status tab you will see various groups: My status, which shows your most recent WhatsApp status (you can swipe to see who’s seen your Status, similar to messages); Recent Updates, which shows new WhatsApp Status messages that your friends have created in the last 24 hours; Viewed Updates,
which is self explanatory; and Muted, which lists updates from users
you’ve muted. If you deleted a WhatsApp Status you’ve created, it’s
deleted from the phones of all your contacts – even from ones who’ve
already seen the Status.
When Do I Get the New WhatsApp Status Feature?
The new WhatsApp Status feature is rolling out users in Europe to
begin with, Sarafa said, with other regions in line to get the feature
later. The feature will ultimately be available to all WhatsApp users on
Android, iPhone, and Windows.
