WhatsApp Status, the new feature which lets users upload photos and videos for their contacts to see, instead of a simple text-based status message, has now gone live. The feature is live on Android, iOS and Windows smartphones across the world.
Apparently, the normal Whatsapp Status was very boring and nobody really used to check that. This new feature pretty much looks like Snapchat’s Stories feature as your ‘story’ disappears after 24 hours and then you can doodle on the video or photo that you are adding to your status. You can also add a text or an emoji. Now on iOS, Status has its own tab on the extreme left at the bottom, followed by Calls, then Camera in the middle, followed by Chats and then Settings. On Android, the tabs are ordered like this: Camera, Chats, Status and then Calls.
To get started, head to the ‘Status’ tab and then tap on the new status button. The camera interface will launch when you press on the ‘New Status’ button giving you the option to select an existing photo, click a photo or shoot a video, in addition, to switching the camera from front to back vice-versa. All the new ‘Statuses that you add will be put under ‘My status’ which can be accessed using the three dots on the right of the screen.
You can also reply to someone’s Status update. There is a reply button, so you can comment on any photo, video, or GIF. Once you tap reply, your message will be sent in a WhatsApp chat with a thumbnail of the Status update. It’s not clear if that message will also be deleted after 24 hours.
Another cool thing about this feature is you can make changes to who can see your status updates. When adding pictures or videos to your status, simply click on the settings icon beside ‘My Status’. And then you can choose from the three options given.
Because I do believe Whatsapp has more users than Snapchat and Instagram the question on my mind now is, will people drop Snapchat or Instagram’s Stories to adopt Whatsapp Status?