We’re always open to seeing what Meta’s WhatsApp has cooked up in the lab by way of WABetaInfo’s handy glimpses into the inner workings of the messenger’s beta tests. Not this time. In fact, we wouldn’t mind Meta canning the feature headed to WhatsApp to spare us the influx of notifications coming our way.
In an attempt to further WhatsApp’s likeness to Instagram, WhatsApp is hard at work on a feature that’ll allow users to mention their contacts when posting a Status update, ultimately disturbing their contacts’ peace and summoning them to arguably the worst addition WhatsApp – not including the Meta AI search bar.
Come to mention it
The feature has been in development for some time, but it looks as though it’s finally made its way to beta testers, as spotted by WABetaInfo in the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.20.3 update. Once available – which should be in the coming weeks – users can simply tap the ‘@’ when posting an image or video in the Status tab.
Doing so will alert the mentioned contact(s) of their involvement in your Status via a notification, as well as create a notification in a private chat between the two users. Any contact mentioned can immediately view your Status update (regardless of the poster’s privacy settings) and if need be, reshare it to their Status tab.
Read More: WhatsApp finally allows users to separate their favourite contacts from all the rest
It’s worth mentioning that any reshared status will automatically hide the name and phone number of the original poster – allowing for extra privacy when viewed by unknown contacts. And, unlike an Instagram status, only those contacts mentioned in a status will be able to see their name included, while to everyone else, it will appear as a regular update.
Expect this update to roll out to the public in the coming weeks, though no specific dates have been mentioned. Those users signed up to the WhatsApp Beta Programme through the Google Play Store (now full-up) can test the feature now through the 2.24.20.3 update.