It’s here: Post voice note on WhatsApp status, link preview and more

WhatsApp status has been a feature that allowed users to showcase their creativity, to their contacts as well as other users with access to their contact details.

The status feature allowed users to share ephemeral updates with friends, with the status update disappearing after 24 hours.

Users can post pretty much anything, from photos, videos, GIFs, text, and now WhatsApp has added a voice note to the list of features.

The new voice note feature

While this feature was launched in February, the rollout in South Africa has started with some iOS users picking up the notice from WhatsApp.

Set voice notes as status updates. 

This feature allows users to record and share voice messages of up to 30 seconds as status updates.

Users will have the option of pressing the microphone icon as an option to set a voice-recorded status, for those who prefer speaking as opposed to writing status updates.

Tested on both Android and iOS, WhatsApp has rolled out the feature which follows an interesting line of voice updates from WhatsApp after the send a voice note update.

That’s not all.

Alongside WhatsApp’s update on the use of voice notes as status updates, the messaging app also introduces the private audience selector feature which lets users pick a privacy option per status to choose who can view their status updates.

Users can now control the visibility of their status updates.

Status reactions

Status reactions provide quick responses from contacts, friends and family. Users can quickly reply to an audio, with emojis, texts, stickers, and even a recording.

Don’t miss a beat

A feature called the status profile ring allows users to categorize their contacts to allow certain contact statuses to be earmarked.   This feature will be visible in the chats list and contact info and will allow users to make sure they never miss a status update from close friends and family.

Link previews on status

Imagine a user posting a link. Users will soon have the ability to view visual previews of that link.  Visual previews make statuses appear better.

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