Facebook continues its streak of taking inspiration, to put it mildly, from Snapchat. We’ve already seen some of the company’s services introduce features that are quite similar to what Snapchat offers and it’s now doing the same for WhatsApp. A new feature called Status is being tested for the cross-platform messaging app which enables users to share mood-setting videos and pictures that can be customized with emoji and other content all of which disappears after 24 hours of being posted. Sounds a lot like Snapchat Stories to me.
This feature test was spotted earlier this week and it’s said to be limited to public beta testers of WhatsApp who are on iOS or happen to be using a rooted Android smartphone.
The Android version of the beta app features a new tab called Status which sits between Chats and Calls. It doesn’t replace the traditional status message that users have always been able to set in WhatsApp, it’s an entirely different channel which lets users share photos and videos that disappear on their own after 24 hours.
Users will be able to specify which of their contacts will receive the Status updates, however, there doesn’t appear to be an option to manually delete the content before the 24 hours are up as of now. Since this is a beta test, that option might be added down the road.
It’s unclear right now when this feature will be rolled out for all WhatsApp users.