WhatsApp has started rolling out the old
“text status” feature. The feature, which was removed after WhatsApp
introduced a new feature that too was called Status, is now part of the
user profile. This feature is now called “About and phone number” and
users can access it by going to their profile tab into settings.
For now the feature is only available to
Android users. But in the coming weeks it will also be rolled out to
iOS users. The app version that includes this new feature is WhatsApp
2.17.111.
The instant messaging app nowadays comes
with a new feature almost daily. But recently it introduced a major
feature called Status, which allowed users to add short video and
pictures and share it with their friends, similar to how they do it on
Facebook.
This new feature works pretty
much similar to that of the Snapchat and Instagram stories. Alongside
all the new upgrades, WhatsApp removed the option for adding text to the
status. But not many WhatsApp users liked it and demanded the text
status back.
So vocal were the protests that WhatsApp
apprently decided to bring the feature back. “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,” a WhatsApp spokesperson had said. “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.”
How it works
First of all you should update the app
to get the feature back. It is not yet available to all as the update
rollout is gradual. In case you haven’t got it, just wait for a day or
two.
To set a text
status on an Android smartphone, first, upgrading the messaging app via
Google Play Store is mandatory. After which, the user can simply click
on the three dots icon situated at the top right corner of the WhatsApp
interface.
From the
drop-down menu, click on the Settings and then head over to the “About
and phone number” section and set a text status just like before. To
note, the text status looks exactly like the old one. It comes with the
all the default status options like – Available, Busy, Urgently call
only, At school, At the movies and the rest.
WhatsApp brings
no change to the old text status interface and works the same. Unlike
the newly released video and photo status feature, the text status
doesn’t disappear in 24 hours time. The iOS users might have to wait a
little longer to get back and enjoy the old status feature.
