Longer statuses and mentions coming soon to WhatsApp 🕰️

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Last week, we reported on a filter feature in the works (which you can discover by clicking here) at WhatsApp. This week, we learn that two other interesting features are currently being tested.

Statuses up to one minute long 🕰️

Since their introduction in response to Snapchat’s stories, WhatsApp statuses have been a real hit on the app. Many users publish content in this format on a daily basis, which is deleted after 24 hours. However, this feature has a rather frustrating aspect: they can only last 30 seconds. This frustration has reached the WhatsApp team, who are currently working on extending the duration of statuses.

Source : WABetaInfo

As you can see in the above screenshot, taken from the popular WABetaInfo site, the maximum duration of statuses has been extended to 1 minute. With this new limit, users will be able to publish much longer statuses. However, you’ll have to wait a little longer. The feature is currently only available to certain beta testers. An update will also be required to see these longer statuses. However, this isn’t the only new feature WhatsApp is preparing.

Identify your contacts directly in your statuses 📣

Also according to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is working on the possibility of mentioning contacts directly in WhatsApp statuses. The functionality would then follow the same process as on Snapchat and Instagram, notifying the user as below.

Source : WABetaInfo

For the moment, the feature is still under development. It is available to Android beta testers, using version 2.24.6.19. Apart from the notification, it’s not yet known whether a user who doesn’t have the user mentioned among his or her contact list can see the latter’s contact record via the status. We’ll have to wait for the official roll-out to be sure.

What do you think of these new features? Do you think WhatsApp is moving in the right direction? Let us know in the comments.