WhatsApp, the popular encrypted chat platform owned by Meta, has announced new features for its Status updates. Status are ephemeral updates posted for all or a select group of contact on WhatsApp. The new features aim to enhance the user experience and make it easier to express on the chat platform, says the company.
The new features include a private audience selector, voice status, reactions, status profile rings for new updates, and link previews on Status. With private audience selector, you can choose who views your status each time you update it, basically giving you the flexibility to update your privacy settings per Status.
Next is the Voice status. In rumours for a long time, Voice Status finally goes official in this update. It allows you to record and share voice messages up to 30 seconds on your WhatsApp Status.
Status Reactions provide a quick and easy to respond to status updates from your friends and close contacts. To send a reaction to any status, you have to swipe up and tap on one of eight emojis, explains company in the blog post.
WhatsApp also brings status profile ring and claims it will ensure you never miss a status update from your friends or loved ones. The ring will be seen around the contact’s profile picture whenever they share any status update, and will be visible across chat lists, group participant lists, and in the contact info.
Last but not the least is the link previews on Status. WhatsApp explains that this feature will allow you to see a visual preview of the link content when you post a link on your WhatsApp Status, giving your contacts a better idea of what the link is before they click.
WhatsApp is rolling these new features to users globally with plans to make it available to everyone in the coming weeks.
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