WhatsApp has rolled out ‘voice status updates’ for iOS devices via an update. It lets iPhone users share a voice note as their status.
Previously, you could only use photos, videos, GIFs and text as your status. Although Meta-owned WhatsApp announced audio clips as a profile status option in early February 2023, it appears that more iOS users are getting it only now.
The wider availability of voice status appears to be arriving with the launch of the new stable update for iOS, build number 23.5.75, as reported by WABetaInfo.
In order to record a voice status, navigate to the Status tab, tap on the pencil icon and hold the microphone icon. Voice notes can be as long as 30 seconds.
You can optionally forward voice notes from chats to set as your status. Back in March 2022, WhatsApp had announced that people send an average of 7 billion voice messages through the app daily.
So as much as some of us might dislike voice messages, it makes perfect sense for WhatsApp to count it as a feature worth adding to status messages.
Just like images and videos, any voice note shared as a WhatsApp status is expected to disappear after 24 hours. Users can also delete them for everyone at any time.
Other changes (apart from the addition of voice) to the status feature announced last month included:
- Link previews for when users post a link on their status
- The choice to update privacy settings per status, with the last one being saved by default
- A ring around profiles with a status update
- Additional status reaction options
