Do you remember WhatsApp Status? No, it is not the function that shows you whether you are online or not. It's WhatsApp's own Stories feature and you can find it at the bottom left of the app. Where the Stories in apps such as Instagram are extremely popular, the function in Whatsapp is rarely used in the Netherlands. To give the function a boost and draw extra attention, WhatsApp is testing the Status function directly in your chat overview.
WhatsApp Status (Story) in chat overview
The feature is currently being tested with a small group of users with the beta version of WhatsApp. If one of your contacts has posted a WhatsApp Status (Story), you will immediately see this in the profile picture in your chat overview. Just like in other apps like Instagram, you'll see a colored circle around the profile picture that indicates a new unread Status post. Tap the profile picture and you can check out the new WhatsApp Story right away.
Fortunately, you only see Stories from the people you have a conversation with in your chat overview. If one of your contacts has posted a WhatsApp Status and you have not had a recent chat with it, you will only find the Status post in the separate Status screen, via the button at the bottom left of the menu bar. If you don't want to use the feature, according to WABetaInfo you can choose to mute Status posts so that they don't appear in the chat overview. But the function is enabled by default.
At the moment, you can still open the chat if you tap on a profile picture from the chat overview. It is not yet known when the feature will be rolled out to all users. WhatsApp is working on several new features, some of which have already been rolled out. This month also sees two new privacy features in WhatsApp, including hiding your online status.
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