With millions of users every day, WhatsApp is clearly one of the most popular messaging applications. Developers are responsible for not just maintaining the app running well on a daily basis but also for implementing the essential UI changes to keep things interesting. A revised Status tray within the Updates tab was shown to us in a WhatsApp beta back in February, providing a little glimpse at the change. More Android beta testers are now seeing the new, preview-focused Status section of the Meta-owned app.
The 2.24.10.10 WhatsApp beta for Android version has this makeover back, but even after sideloading this specific version of the app, I was unable to replicate the experience. More WhatsApp beta testers should receive the upgrade in the coming weeks, according to WABetaInfo.
This indicates that the redesign is still a ways off from entering the stable channel. Still, this updated Status tray looks like it’s here to stay based on its two unique appearances. It will be interesting to watch how WhatsApp responds to criticism over this specific redesign, though.
Allowing users to select which updates they wish to view in the Status tray has the obvious benefit, as we noted when we reported the debut of the Status preview back in February. Regular WhatsApp users are aware that not every status update is worthy of our time. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to examine an update after receiving a good preview.
On the other hand, as the second image above shows, offering a mini-preview of your contacts’ status updates also consumes space within Channel subscriptions. Thus, WhatsApp needs to decide if users’ subscribed Channels are more valuable than status updates. There is a case to be made against limiting the available space in the already crowded Updates tab, even though it’s certainly an improvement over the current Status tray, requiring users to tap each update to see what’s posted.