WhatsApp first launched the Status feature in February 2017, allowing users to share text, photos, videos and GIFs that disappear after 24 hours. The launch of Status was seen as WhatsApp’s response to the huge popularity of Snapchat Stories and Instagram Stories.
The history behind WhatsApp Status
WhatsApp was founded in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum as an alternative to SMS messaging. By early 2014, WhatsApp had been acquired by Facebook and had over 450 million active users worldwide, making it the most popular global mobile messaging service.
However, the rise of apps like Snapchat and Instagram in the early 2010s popularized the “stories” format of sharing ephemeral photos and videos. Snapchat pioneered this with Snapchat Stories in 2013, allowing users to post content that disappears after 24 hours. Instagram Stories launched in August 2016 and quickly gained traction.
Stories represented a fundamental shift in social media sharing from permanent posting to temporary, in-the-moment updates. The format resonated with younger users who wanted a more casual way to share everyday moments without cluttering up their profile feeds.
Initially, WhatsApp did not have a feature equivalent to stories. While it remained popular for messaging, WhatsApp was viewed as lagging behind in the new era of visual, ephemeral sharing.
WhatsApp develops Status
In early 2017, WhatsApp announced it was developing a Status feature, its version of stories. The feature would allow users to share photos, videos and GIFs viewable by their WhatsApp contacts for 24 hours before disappearing.
WhatsApp Status was seen as the company’s attempt to attract younger users who were flocking to Snapchat and Instagram Stories. It also gave WhatsApp a way to expand beyond just messaging and compete with the more multimedia-focused apps.
The launch
After months of beta testing, WhatsApp officially rolled out Status on February 16, 2017. The launch came via an app update on iOS and Android.
With Status, users could share text, photos, videos and GIFs to their contacts. Media and text statuses were end-to-end encrypted for privacy. Users could view who had viewed their status updates.
Status updates automatically disappeared after 24 hours. This created a flowing, real-time feed of ephemeral updates similar to Snapchat and Instagram Stories.
To view Status updates from their WhatsApp contacts, users needed to swipe right from the Chats tab. They could then view, comment on or share statuses posted by their contacts.
Launch features
Some key features available at launch included:
- Photo, video and GIF sharing – Users could capture or upload photos/videos up to 10 seconds or select GIFs to share.
- Text statuses – Users could type out text updates up to 139 characters to share.
- 24 hour expiration – Statuses disappeared after 24 hours.
- View counts – Users could see how many contacts had viewed their status.
- Doodle on photos – Users could annotate statuses with doodles and stickers before sharing.
- Reply to statuses – Contacts could reply to statuses via text, emoji or with their own status.
- Status privacy – Users could control who could view their status updates.
Response
The response to the launch of WhatsApp Status was mixed.
On the positive side, Status gave WhatsApp a more contemporary social media element and expanded the app’s functionality beyond just messaging and calling.
Allowing users to share ephemeral photos, videos and GIFs made WhatsApp feel more fun and multimedia-focused. This helped attract younger audiences seeking the Stories format popularized by Snapchat.
The automatic disappearing aspect also created a low-pressure way to share casual moments without cluttering up feeds permanently.
Criticism
However, Status also received criticism from some users:
- Too similar to Snapchat/Instagram – Many felt Status was an obvious clone of Stories with little unique innovation from WhatsApp.
- Cluttered interface – The addition of Status made the app’s navigation seem cluttered to some users.
- Missing features – Some expected features like boomerangs or hands-free recording were not yet available.
- Reduced focus on messaging – Some felt Status took focus away from WhatsApp’s core messaging functionality.
There was also criticism around WhatsApp’s implementation of end-to-end encryption for Status. While chats and calls used the Signal protocol for encryption, WhatsApp introduced a less robust encryption method for Status.
Impact of WhatsApp Status
Despite some criticisms, WhatsApp Status has become an important part of the app experience for many users:
- Over 1 billion daily users – WhatsApp Status now has over 1 billion daily active users worldwide.
- Self-expression – Status provides a low-pressure way for users to express themselves and share moments without cluttering chats.
- Enhanced connections – Status gives users insight into their contacts’ lives to feel more connected to them.
- Viral sharing – Funny, interesting statuses can quickly spread between groups of friends on WhatsApp.
- Business uses – Businesses can leverage Status for things like promoting products, events or deals.
On the business side, the launch of Status has given WhatsApp new monetization avenues through advertising and business accounts. WhatsApp Status ads began testing in 2021.
Evolution of Status
Since its launch, WhatsApp has continued evolving and adding features to Status:
- Increased media limit – Media statuses can now be up to 30 seconds, increased from 10 seconds at launch.
- Status reactions – In 2022, WhatsApp enabled reacting to statuses with 8 emojis.
- Text formatting – Users can now apply bold, italics and strikethrough formatting to text statuses.
- Link previews – Link previews were added for statuses containing URLs.
- Voice statuses – Voice messages recorded within WhatsApp can be shared as statuses.
- Doodle videos – Videos can be doodled on before sharing as statuses.
WhatsApp also made changes to Status privacy. At launch, Status was visible to all contacts by default. Later, WhatsApp made it private by default viewable only by users you select.
The future of Status
Going forward, we will likely see WhatsApp continue evolving Status by taking inspiration from popular features on competitors like Snapchat and Instagram.
Potential upcoming Status features could include:
- Augmented reality lenses and filters
- Expanded creative tools for editing and customizing statuses
- Enhanced privacy controls
- Integration with Facebook’s cross-posting and analytics tools
- Expanded business features for organic and paid promotion
As video calling on WhatsApp grows, we could also potentially see the ability to go live or stream video to Status. And the launch of disappearing messages for WhatsApp chats in 2021 raises the prospect that non-ephemeral posting may be phased out in favor of stories-only sharing.
Ultimately, Status has given WhatsApp a way to stay competitive in the evolving social media landscape by adapting the popular stories format. And it provides users with a flexible, expressive way to share moments without cluttering up inboxes. While not without critics, Status has successfully evolved from a Snapchat clone into an integral part of the WhatsApp experience for over 1 billion daily users worldwide.