WhatsApp Status is now live. If you still don’t have it, then update your app right now to have it. WhatsApp as we knew it is gone, and the version we have now, is more like a social media app than an instant messaging app.
It now not just a platform for chatting, you can share photos, GIFs, and videos with your contacts throughout the day, letting your friends know your whereabouts. In return, WhatsApp can now serve you with quality ads from advertisers and now really start to cash in on one of the most popular messaging apps in the world.
How to use WhatsApp Status
Well, it is no rocket science. It is as simple as writing your status in the previous version of the app. Except on this one, you can accompany your status with photos, GIFs, and videos for a richer experience. However, it does not feel like the old WhatsApp, if anything it now feels like Facebook or Twitter; and expect to be bombarded by ads over while in there.
After updating the app, you will now see the new WhatsApp Status tab in between the Chats and Calls tabs. To use it:
Tap the Status tab. Here you can see all your contacts that have posted something on their status. You can tap on a status to reply to a particular contact’s status. Your replies will be sent along with your regular chats alongside a snapshot of that contact’s status. That was probably by design so as to spark more conversation over WhatsApp.
To post your Status update, click on the dotted circle that has a plus sign (located on the top right corner of the app). Alternatively, you can just tap on ‘My Status’. The Status message you post will automatically disappear after 24 hours.
To delete your Status message, tap on the 3 dots located in front of the Status message. Long press the Status in the next Windows and select the delete option.
Who can see your Status message?
Privacy is a big deal nowadays; you don’t want just anyone viewing the stuff you post on WhatsApp Status. Thankfully, you can control who can view, and who cannot in the Status privacy settings. Under the privacy settings you got three options:
Share with Contacts: This setting will make your Status visible to all your contacts. Meaning all your saved contacts.
Share with contacts but exclude: If you don’t mind all your contacts viewing your Status, but there are specific people you won’t want to view This setting lets you bar specific people from viewing your Status.
Share with only few: If you would like only a selected few to view your Status update. This setting puts them on the whitelist to view your Status.
The Bad Part of the new WhatsApp Status
With the new WhatsApp Status, the old status has been done away with. The old status was useful in that you were able to tell your contacts what you were doing, and if you are available for chat/calls/video calls or not.
The old status also enabled you to communicate with all your contacts at once. Its replacement wants you to put up a new Status message every 24 hours; the old one was there until you decide to delete it or change it. The new Status does not take just text update; it must be accompanied by a photo, GIF, or video.
