WhatsApp recnetly introudced Username feature We already covered how WhatsApp usernames let you chat without sharing your phone number, and now there's another small but handy update worth knowing about.
WhatsApp is testing a small new feature that shows a green dot on a contact's profile photo when they are online. It's a simple change, but it makes checking someone's availability much quicker than before. Earlier, WhatsApp showed the word "online" as text under a contact's name in the chat info screen. Now, that text is being replaced with a green dot sitting right on the profile picture. One glance and you know if the person is active.
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| Image Source ChatGPT |
This is currently showing up only on the chat info screen (the page you land on when you tap a contact's name). It hasn't reached the main chat list or the conversation window yet. It started on the Android beta first, but it has already been spotted on the iOS beta too, in the same spot on the profile photo. So this looks like a feature Meta wants on both platforms, not just one.
It's faster to check than reading text every time. It matches the style used by apps like Telegram and Messenger, so it feels familiar. It's expected to be the base for a bigger "Contacts Hub" WhatsApp is working on, which will list all your online contacts in one place.
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| image source wabetainfo |
The green dot follows your existing "Last seen and online" setting. If you've hidden your online status, no one will see a green dot on your profile, and you won't see one on contacts who've hidden theirs either.
How to get it
This is currently limited to a small group of beta testers, so most people won't see it yet on the regular app. If you want to try it early before getting official launch Android users Join the WhatsApp Beta Program on Google Play Store and update to the latest beta version. And iOS users Join through TestFlight and update your beta build.
Even after joining, WhatsApp rolls out features gradually, so it may take some time to actually appear on your account. For everyone else, just wait it should reach the stable version for all users in the coming weeks or months.