Most of WhatsApp’s recent changes revolve around featureslike Channels, which was introduced widely last year. Recent updates to the app have given us a decent idea of what’s to come, including the ability to shareChannel posts in the form of a status. It now looks like WhatsApp is prepping a redesign for the Status section within the Updates tab that houses both Status and Channel posts.
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We’re getting a good look at this new redesign of the Status tab courtesy ofWABetaInfo, who found it withinv2.24.4.23of WhatsApp beta for Android. This update basically makes the status section more prominent within the Updates tab. However, it looks like the change is only appearing to a handful of beta testers at the moment, so even having the latest version installed may not show the revamped design.
While WABetaInfo’s screenshot only shows a preview of the self-uploaded status, updates from your contacts should appear right next to them in a card-style format. By contrast, the older design of the Status section leverages a circular icon bearing the user’s display picture. This redesign also provides a quick preview of the status you or your contacts have posted.
Current design of the Status tab (left); Newly spotted card-style previews (right)
One possible concern here is that these card-based status previews take more space away from the list of Channel updates. However, previews are definitely the way to go for status updates so that users can easily pick the updates they want to view or skip. If multiple status updates are posted, users should be able to view the first one within the preview. We presume tapping the preview would open up a list of the other viewable updates from that particular contact.
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Since this redesign of the Status tab has only appeared within WhatsApp beta, it’s too early to tell if it will ever make it to the stable version of the app in the future. But considering how this redesign offers a significant improvement over the existing status previews, we hope it makes the cut.
