WhatsApp status updates are now on another level; 'Close Friends' feature similar to Instagram is coming

 

 

Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp is constantly testing new features, and now the company is going to make its status updates more personalized. WhatsApp is preparing to introduce the 'Close Friends' feature in the Status interface. With the help of this feature, users will be able to share their status only with selected friends or trusted contacts. This feature will be similar to Instagram's 'Close Friends Stories'.

Status sharing will be more private

WhatsApp status works like Instagram stories. There you can post photos, short videos or text updates. These updates will be visible for 24 hours. Then they will disappear automatically. While it's less popular in the US, data from Meta shows that more than 1.5 billion people worldwide update their WhatsApp status every day.

Currently, WhatsApp offers three privacy options for sharing statuses. You can share the update with all contacts, exclude certain people, or show the update only to selected contacts. The "Only share with" option already exists, but the new Close Friends feature will make the process even easier. It will be possible to create a separate list for sharing statuses.

How will this feature work?

According to a report by WaBetaInfo, this feature has already been seen in the TestFlight beta version of iOS. With this feature, users can set up a Close Friends list. Then, each time a status update is posted, users can easily choose whether to show it to all contacts or only to that specific list.

To differentiate these updates from regular statuses, WhatsApp will show them in a different color. This means that members of the list will immediately know that this post is just for them. The special thing about this feature, like Instagram, is that the list will remain completely private. That is, no notification will be sent when someone is added or removed from this list. This way, users will have complete control over who they want to see their private status updates.