WhatsApp is looking to enable a new Status-related feature
Photo Credit: The Verge
WhatsApp is finally bringing the anticipated feature that will allow users to share Status updates to Facebook Stories as well. The feature has been under development for a while, and now the company is reported to have enabled it for testing. The feature will show up for all users who have signed up for the beta program. Users won't need to link their WhatsApp accounts to Facebook to use this feature. The app uses the data-sharing API that is used by several other apps as well, to share user Status as a Facebook Story.
The Verge reports that WhatsApp is enabling this feature for testing, which means that it should be rolling out commercially soon. The ‘Share to Facebook Story' button will go live right under your Status. Clicking on it will take you to the Facebook app, where you can then post it as a Story. This option can be used to post your status to other apps like Instagram, Gmail, and Google Photos as well, the report states.
To ensure privacy and safety, WhatsApp is not linking the two platforms but is only using the data-sharing API on Android and iOS, just like every other app does. “It's making use of the same iOS and Android data-sharing APIs as every other app, meaning data is transferred between the apps on-device. Even if you share data to another Facebook-owned service like Instagram, WhatsApp says the two posts will be separate events in Facebook's systems, and they will not be linked.”
The report states that WhatsApp hasn't introduced the ability to automatically share Status to other apps. The company says that it wants users to make an active decision to share their status or not.
This feature was first spotted in WhatsApp beta version 2.19.151 for Android. At that time, the feature was under development and wasn't visible to users. Now, the report says that it will be enabled for testing, which means beta users will be able to see it. Let us know if you see the feature in the latest beta in the comments below!
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