It"s been a while since the Meta-owned company introduced a major change to the status functionality. Back in 2017, WhatsApp"s “text only” status feature evolved into something that allowed users to share photos and videos with their friends and contacts on the platform easily and securely. And after almost five years, it"s once again planning to revamp the status feature.
WABetainfo has spotted support for voice notes in status on WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.16.3. Besides photos and videos, users will also be able to share their voice notes as status updates once the voice notes support goes live for everyone. The instant chat messenger may call it “voice status.”
As can be seen in the screenshot, a new microphone icon is at the bottom of the status page to let users record their voice notes. Below the microphone icon are the options to send text, photos, and videos as status updates, which you already know.
It"s also important to note that voice notes you post as statuses are end-to-end encrypted, just like photos and videos. Also, “voice status” will be shared with those you chose in the status privacy setting, just like how you limit the reach of your WhatsApp status currently.
The support for voice notes is currently under development and not available for WhatsApp beta testers, nor can we tell anything about when it will be introduced. But it will certainly not be limited to Android users only.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp has introduced the full emoji keyboard for Reactions, allowing users to react with their chosen emojis and skin tones. Hopefully, we"ll continue to get exciting new features such as this in the future.
Source and image: WABetainfo