Just like us, you too might have recently updated the latest version on your WhatsApp to find a totally new feature, called Status, on the chat messenger. For Snapchat users and people who have even been using the Stories feature on Instagram, WhatsApp Status won’t need much introduction. But the uninitiated would require a little bit of help and we’d be glad to handhold.

What is Status?

Located at the bottom left of your iPhone, WhatsApp Status is different from the traditional text status update function. The former allows you to share images, videos, emojis, sketches and even GIFs as updates that will appear to your friends in the form of a chronological reel. The data disappears within 24 hours and cannot be saved to your device. The Status feature is available on Android as well.

How to use it?

Just like Snapchat, you will be taken to a virtual photoshop assistant once you capture the image or video that you wish to share. Here, you can scribble on the file, superimpose and position emojis on it and even add a caption.

Who can see it?

After creating a ‘Status,’ you can specify the audience through your Privacy Settings. Like your traditional text status, you can either make it visible to public, your friends or a selected set of contacts. You can also discover which of your contacts has viewed your Status on a view counter at the bottom of the screen.

Likewise, you can also view Status updates from your contacts in the Status tab. You can swipe left or right to view the previous or the next update respectively while you can also choose to pause and/or reply.

What about Snapchat?

With 100 crore monthly users, WhatsApp hosts a daily exchange of around 6,000 crore messages. And by adding the new Status feature, it could spell real trouble for Snapchat, which has already experienced an 82 percent fall in user growth since the introduction of Instagram Stories last year.