WhatsApp launches Status updates that vanish after 24 hours
Facebook-owned company WhatsApp on Tuesday 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 updates feature completely changes the way you the Status function of the app works. WhatsApp tested the feature for beta users in November, and now the Status tab is rolling out worldwide for its billion-plus users on Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone.
How to Use new WhatsApp Status Updates
- Update WhatsApp. If no update is available for your app, wait for a few days. The rollout of the new feature is gradual.
- Open the app. You will see the new Status tab in it. From there you can post updates, which will then be shared with your friends. You will be able to control who sees your updates.
- Users can watch updates from friends and reply privately, shoot and adorn their imagery with drawings and captions and send their creations to all their contacts they’ve chosen with a persistent privacy setting.
Status can be posted using the in-app camera. The status update can be viewed for 24 hours after which, like in Snapchat, it will automatically expire.
The announcement regarding the Status update was made by Facebook co-founder Jan Koum. “We are excited to announce that, coinciding with WhatsApp’s 8th birthday on February 24, we are reinventing the status feature. Starting today, we are rolling out an update to status, which allows you to share photos and videos with your friends and contacts on WhatsApp in an easy and secure way. Yes, even your status updates are end-to-end encrypted,” he wrote.
Now the Facebook-owned company has 1.2 billion monthly users, with users sending 60 billion messages per day, including 3.3 billion photos, 760 million videos, and 80 million GIFs.
