WhatsApp to introduce ‘close friends’ feature for status updates, just like instagram

The ‘Close Friends’ feature is coming soon on WhatsApp; sharing status will now have to be more personal.

New Delhi: WhatsApp is constantly adding new features to its platform to improve the user experience. Now this messaging app owned by Meta is going to bring a new tool like Instagram's 'Close Friends' feature. This feature is being tested in the iOS beta version, which can be released for all users soon.

What is the 'Close Friends' feature?

Under this feature, users will be able to share their status updates only with selected 'close friends.' For this, the user will first have to create a list of his close friends. While putting the status, the user will be able to decide whether he wants to share the update with everyone or only with his close friends.

How will this status look?

Like Instagram, WhatsApp will also show the Close Friends status separately from the general status. It will have a special color ring so that users can identify that this update is from someone close. This update will be visible only to those people who were in the Close Friends list at the time when the status was posted.

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Privacy and control

A special thing about this feature is that no one will get the information that they have been added or removed from the Close Friends list. That is, your privacy will remain completely intact. Apart from this, the status update will disappear automatically after 24 hours, and it will be end-to-end encrypted so that only selected people will be able to see it.

The option was there earlier too; now it is becoming easier.

WhatsApp already has three options to share status:

My Contacts:Show all contacts.

My Contacts Except...: Shows except some people

Only Share With...: Show only selected people

But now 'Close Friends' will be a permanent list, which will not need to be selected again and again. This will make sharing status easier and more personal.

When will it be launched?

This feature has currently been seen in the beta version of iOS (25.23.10.80) and is not yet available to general users. However, it is expected to be rolled out publicly soon.

This new feature of WhatsApp will be very useful for those users who want to share some parts of their personal life with only selected people. It is not only easy to use but also maintains privacy completely.