Status updates on WhatsApp aren’t as popular as say Instagram Stories but they offer a nice way to update what is arguably a more intimate group of people than you would on Instagram. The other thing about WhatsApp updates, however, is that they have a much more basic functionality compared to Instagram Stories, although today it looks like WhatsApp is bringing a nice feature to status updates. Let’s check it out.
WhatsApp beta users have unearthed an interesting little gem in the WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.22.16.3. In a screenshot shared to WABetaInfo, they show a microphone button on display on the Status update tab of the Android app.
It seems that WhatsApp is working on a feature that will allow you to send voice notes as status updates. The feature will only share the status update voice note with the people you choose when you set your status privacy settings. It also looks like all status update voice notes will be protected by end-to-end encryption too.
This is an interesting update that again differentiates WhatsApp status updates from the likes of Instagram Stories. Voice notes are austere affairs without all the bells and whistles that you get with an Instagram Story update. They are still excellent vehicles for communication, however, which means these new voice status updates will be bringing some interesting possibilities to WhatsApp. If WhatsApp combines this with the recent voice note recording update we reported on that allows you to pause and resume when recording, we could see a new way to deliver more intimate podcast episodes or things of that nature when this feature rolls out.
As this feature is still in development though we will just have to wait and see what happens as we can’t give you any details of a launch date just yet. To make sure you don’t miss updates on this or any other upcoming WhatsApp update, bookmark our WhatsApp News Page and subscribe to push notifications.
