Finally, WhatsApp launches new status update with video, photo feature

The feature is now available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone users worldwide

Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp has introduced a new status feature which now allows users to share pictures and videos with their contacts by putting them in status.

The feature, which is reminiscent of Snapchat's disappearing Stories feature, was first tested in beta version in November last year and now has been rolled out to iOS, Android and Windows Phone users worldwide.



“We are excited to announce that, coinciding with WhatsApp's 8th birthday on February 24, we are reinventing the status feature. Starting today, we are rolling out an update to status, which allows you to share photos and videos with your friends and contacts on WhatsApp in an easy and secure way. Yes, even your status updates are end-to-end encrypted,” reads a statement on WhatsApp’s blog.

PHOTO: WHATSAPP

The latest feature, which lives in a new dedicated section of the app, alongside chats and call log, lets users post images or videos as their update their status with photos and video clips, emoji, doodles and text that will be viewable to friends within the app for 24 hours after posting.



The status feature which previously allowed users to option of text only, was billed as long overdue update WhatsApp.

This is not the first Facebook or one of its owned apps that has tried to copy Snapchat’s ephemeral stories feature. In November last year, Facebook-owned Instagram copied Snapchat’s popular feature by introducing vanishing direct messages.