Facebook’s WhatsApp is testing a feature like Snapchat Stories

First Facebook’s Instagram copied Snapchat’s Stories, and it didn’t try to hide the fact — it’s also called Stories. Then it was discovered that Facebook’s testing a similar feature called Messenger Day on Facebook Messenger. Now unsurprisingly, Facebook’s WhatsApp is also looking to add something similar. The feature, called Status, adds a new tab between your chats and calls and lets you share photos and videos with all your contacts or with select people. It’s an experimental feature in the latest public beta of the WhatsApp app, but your device needs to be rooted or jailbroken to be able to access it. You can scribble on your images or add text and emojis — exactly like Snapchat. You can also trim videos after recording them, but there’s no way to set a time limit for how long these statuses are displayed. These Statuses linger for about 24 hours, but there’s no way to delete them yet. Status updates have been around on WhatsApp for a while, but it was akin to changing your status on Skype — like setting your status to “Away,” “Do Not Disturb,” or adding your own personal message. The new implementation doesn’t seem to get rid of the current Status feature, which lives in the settings menu. It’s unclear when we’ll see Status roll out to the stable version of WhatsApp. The feature highlights Facebook’s constant desire to grab Snapchat’s user base — the social network giant even tried to purchase a South Korean Snapchat clone called Snow. iPhone users can now get setup so that WhatsApp is their default messaging and calling app. If your iPhone is updated to iOS 18.2 then the functionality is already available for you right now. WhatsApp is developing a new feature for sharing stories called collage photos. As reported by Android Authority, this feature aims to enhance the clarity and effectiveness of status updates. Found in WhatsApp version 2.25.8.5, the collage photos feature includes a Layout button that appears when you attempt to post a media status. From this button, you can attach up to six photos arranged in various grid options. Additionally, you have the ability to reposition images within the layout to suit your preferences. Are you tired of seeing spam messages and getting notifications about being added to random chat groups from people you don’t know? WhatsApp is working to limit the amount of spam messages you receive. According to a report from TechCrunch, the chat platform announced on Tuesday that it will be testing monthly limits on the number of broadcast messages from both individual and business accounts in the coming weeks as part of an effort to reduce the amount of spam you’ll get from those accounts whether you follow them or not. However, it’s not entirely clear how many limits there will be.