WhatsApp has announced a series of updates to the status update feature that allows users to post a text or image that appears for 24 hours and then disappears. The company claims that this is a popular way to share updates, which preserves users’ privacy thanks to end-to-end encryption just like any other message sent through WhatsApp.
In the new version, you can choose for each status update the exact audience that will be able to view it, when the selection is saved and offered automatically for the next update as well. Voice messages of up to 30 seconds in length are now also added to the range of sharable media, and other users viewing the status will now be able to quickly respond to it with one of eight icons, similar to responses to regular messages.
In addition, WhatsApp now displays a kind of glowing ring around the profile picture of a user who has posted a status update, so that their friends will notice the update. This ring will appear wherever the profile picture itself is displayed: the list of conversations, groups, and the contact details page within the application.
Another innovation is a preview of websites to which a link appears within a published status message. According to WhatsApp, this view will make the status prettier, and also help users understand what’s in the link before they click on it. All the innovations should make their way to users, both on iOS and Android, during the coming weeks.