Dec 22, 2024 | Updated: 11:35 AM EDT
Mar 14, 2017 10:03 AM EDT
After WhatsApp overhauled its Status feature in February in a bumper software update, it removed the text-only status. In the latest Android beta, the traditional statuses are returned. These includes the ability to broadcast videos, photos, and GIFs to contacts.
Customizable After Update
The redesigned feature of the WhatsApp update could all be customized with emojis and handwritten annotations. Its functionality is very similar to SnapChat or Instagram Stories, Express reports. By tapping on the Reply button, family and friends could react to a Status with the reply sent as a new WhatsApp message.
According to Techshout, WhatsApp users could check the return to traditional statuses by scrolling down to the About and phone number section. The next step is to choose to fill in their own text or choose to “Available,” “Busy,” “At school” or other classic options. Users could also see the text status of other people on their profile page like they used to before the overhaul. If bringing back the text-only status moves from beta into the official version, chances are the photo- and video-based Status tab would likely remain.
Status Would Remain
Although the response to the Status has been quite negative, WhatsApp would not likely remove it. It hoped when it added the Status similar to SnapChat which disappears in 24 hours, people would be encouraged to interact with the app regularly on a more social basis compared to before. In February, the app added Tagline, a new section, for iOS and Windows Phone beta that promised a return to text-based statuses in which users could upload a message full of emojis and words.
TNH Online notes that the overhauled Status feature is an improvement, but with it, users of WhatsApp could no longer inform others if they are available to talk or not. The developers, though, are thinking about it and a change was spotted in the WhatsApp 2.1795 beta version, according to the Android Police website.
