WhatsApp Status, the platform’s temporary publishing feature, has introduced two new interaction options: mentions and likes. Meta announced the update this Thursday (3), bringing features familiar from Instagram into WhatsApp.
These additions offer more ways to engage with friends and family. Users can privately like a Status post, with only the poster seeing who clicked the 💚 button. The new mention feature allows people tagged in a Status photo or video to be notified privately, giving them the option to share the post. Meta clarified that these mentions will not appear publicly in the Status.
The rollout of these features has already begun and should reach all users soon.
New group notification settings
WhatsApp is expected to roll out more new features in the future. According to WABetaInfo on Friday (4), version 2.24.21.22 of WhatsApp Beta for Android introduces a new setting (currently disabled) that allows users to define how group notifications are issued.
The new option, called “Activity” (in translation), appears on the notification settings page and offers two choices:
- All: Notifies users of all group messages.
- Relevant for me: Only alerts for mentions, replies, and other important messages.
Although this feature has been previewed, it’s not yet available for WhatsApp Beta users, and there is no expected release date for the broader user base.
