Update: Simple text statuses are coming back to Whatsapp

Update, March 16: Since WhatsApp’s launch, users had the ability to set a persistent custom status — which said “Hey there! I’m using WhatsApp” by default — until it was ditched last month for a Snapchat Stories-like alternative. Prompted by user feedback, WhatsApp has now announced that it will re-introduce text-based status feature.
In a statement to TechCrunch, WhatsApp said: “We heard from our users that people missed the ability to set a persistent text-only update in their profile, so we’ve integrated this feature into the ‘About’ section in profile settings. Now, the update will appear next to profile names anytime you view contacts, such as when creating a new chat or looking at Group info.”
WhatsApp won’t remove the recent image-based status component, however, users will simply have both options available. You can look forward to the return of the original status feature in the coming weeks and WhatsApp said it will be “continuing to build on” the Snapchat-style status option in the future.
Since we published the original post, Snapchat also went public through a successful IPO.
In its bid to further compete with Snapchat, Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp has announced a new feature called Status. It’s basically a version of Snapchat Stories, with the addition of full encryption.
In fact, WhatsApp has had a “status” tab in the app when it first launched in February 2009. However, it was just a text-based feature designed to show a user’s current availability. Today, the update that’s rolling out for Android, iOS and Windows Phone add much more functionality. Like Snapchat Stories, the revamped Status feature in WhatsApp lets users share photos and videos with friends, and those images will disappear after a short period of time. Unlike Snapchat Stories, though, the team at WhatsApp claims any shared content in the Status tab is “end-to-end encrypted”, which may attract more users who are concerned about security.
This is, of course, not the first such “clone” of Snapchat Stories. Another Facebook-owned app, Instagram, launched Instagram Stories in 2016. That launch has reportedly affected usage for Snapchat as a whole. In its recent IPO filing, the company showed that its growth rate went from 17.2 percent in the second quarter of 2016 down to a growth rate of just 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter of the year, after Instagram Stories launched.
This new feature for WhatsApp could also affect growth for Snapchat as well down the road. That could potentially be bad news as the company prepares to go public. It hopes to start trading its shares sometime in early March.
By the way, TechCrunch reports that WhatsApp currently has 1.2 billion monthly users worldwide, and they are sending 60 billion messages a day. That includes 3.3 billion photos, 760 million videos and 80 million GIFs. Are you a WhatsApp user? Do you think this revamp of its Status feature may keep you from using Snapchat in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
GET IT AT GOOGLE PLAY

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Linktree’s free workaround lets you add multiple links to your Instagram bio

Image
Instagram only gives you one opportunity to link to outside resources inside its photo sharing platform. This might not be a problem for a majority of the users, but for those wanting a little more customization and even more options, it leaves much to be desired. Enter  Linktree , a free tool for Instagram designed to improve traffic to your outside link, be it a blog, portfolio, or store. How it works is fairly straightforward. After connecting Linktree to your Instagram profile, you’ll receive a single link to place in your Instagram bio. Once that link in place, you can customize what it’s linked to within your browser, be it a single website, or a collection of sites you’re looking to direct followers to Say you’re a photographer who’s using Instagram as a marketing tool for your wedding photography. Using Linktree, you can direct Instagram followers to your blog, your portfolio site, and even your other social media accounts. Until now, you would’ve been stuck choosing b
Read more

EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE PIXEL 4, THE MOST-LEAKED PHONE EVER

Image
Google’s  Pixel 3 might have been the  most-leaked phone in history . Long before its unveiling, we knew practically everything about it from unboxing videos, photo comparisons, even a full review of the device. Surely, for the Pixel 4, Google would clamp down on leaks to leave some surprises for its debut on  October 15th , right? Let’s just say, if that was the plan, it didn’t exactly work out. We’ve now seen the Pixel 4 XL from every angle and in three different colors. At least seven different sources have touched this phone, many of them confirming the same specs. We not only know which cameras it’ll have, but also what they may be capable of, including air gestures (go figure). That doesn’t even count information Google has already shared  on purpose. So if you want to know almost everything about the Pixel 4 nearly a month before it’s announced, buckle up. We’ve sifted through all of the rumors and information we can find to compile everything we know — and everything we
Read more

Our favorite iOS apps for the iPhone and iPad in 2018

Image
As 2018 comes to a close, it’s time to look at some our favorite apps of the year. While not all of these are brand new, many of them popped up onto our radar for the first time in 2018, and are definitely worth the attention. Others are some of our favorites that are still best-in-class despite having been around for some time now. We aim to do things differently at TNW, and as such you’re not going to find the recommendations you’re probably used to seeing: Gmail, Skype, Dropbox, and the like. Instead, we want to focus on the best-of-the-best that you may not have heard of, and others that are just special enough to warrant a mention. As always, we’d encourage you to share some of your favorites in the comments below, or on Facebook. Enlight Pixaloop (Free Pixaloop  is one of my favorite apps on the market. Unlike typical image editors that allow you to remove red eye or apply a filter, Pixaloop allows you to create stunning photo animations with a few clicks on your
Read more