WhatsApp’s ‘Snapification’ hasn’t quite gone to plan. After introducing Status in the style of disappearing Stories just like on Snapchat and Instagram, we’re seeing the return of the text-status. The text-only Status had already made a return on Android, and it looks like this is back on iOS as well.
WhatsApp’s latest update for iOS version 2.17.10 brings back the text-only status update in your profile, and this is now called as ‘About’. In order to rediscover your old Status message, go to Settings and tap on your profile picture.
There your last About update should be visible; tap on that status, and you’ll be taken to the list of customised status updates. You can choose from one of these or just add your new one. Just tap on your customised status message, and a new tab will open where you can type in a new update, and then save it. This will then reflect under your name on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp’s new Status feature, which gets its own separate tab on the app, will continue to remain. The text-only Status update is back on popular demand, thanks to people missing the old style update. The feature was pretty useful; after all you could see a person’s Status and if they had marked it as busy or ‘At the gym’, you at least knew not to expect a reply.