In the future, WhatsApp will display Status, an alternative to Instagram Stories, around the profile photos, instead of on its own tab. With this it seems that Facebook (Meta) has not yet given up the fight.
Status in WhatsApp can be seen in message list
Several years ago, WhatsApp released a new feature. We were then able to send (or rather, set as ‘status’, photos, videos, and GIFs (or rather, set it as ‘status’) with this Snapchat (or Instagram Stories)-like feature in this popular messaging app. These are automatically deleted after 24 hours. Only, have you used this a lot? Or have you already seen the other statuses of contacts? New. We neither.
That’s why WhatsApp tries to make the Status feature stand out more. According to a reliable source WABetaInfo the Status can be seen directly within the contact list or when you search for messages. Previously, there was a separate tab for this on the iPhone.

Status: this is how it works
When the user taps on the profile picture (with Status), the status update will appear. Tapping on the text will take you to the chat. It is the hope for WhatsApp that this way more people will start checking the status updates.
At the moment, according to the source, this new view of Status is only in development for WhatsApp Desktop. We expect it to be available soon for iOS and Android users. Are you going to use it? Or are you already enough with Instagram Stories, Reels, Snapchat and TikTok?

WhatsApp rolls out many new features
WhatsApp has been working lately to catch up with new features on other messaging apps, such as Signal and Telegram. For example, after this major update you will see Communities and ‘Quick reactions’. The former is sort of an umbrella for group apps. This allows you to quickly send important messages within your club to all your affiliated group apps. “Quick Replies” are replies with emojis to messages.
We are most excited about sending larger photos in WhatsApp. At first it was only possible to send files via the app with a maximum size of 100 MB. This resulted in a loss of quality of the photos. Soon this will be a thing of the past.
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