DUBAI/SAN FRANCISCO—WhatsApp, the world’s leading messaging platform, has begun rolling out a feature designed to significantly streamline user communication, enabling users to initiate a chat with anyone who has viewed their Status updates with a single tap.
The new functionality, reported by WABetaInfo, introduces a prominent new button placed next to each contact listed in the Status viewers list. By pressing this shortcut, users can instantly open a direct chat window with that contact, eliminating several cumbersome steps required previously.
In the past, users had to exit the Status screen, navigate to the main Chats tab, and then manually select the contact to begin a conversation. This update cuts out these unnecessary friction points, allowing users to remain within the Status screen and send spontaneous, quick messages immediately after seeing a viewer’s interest.
The feature is currently being made available to all beta testers who have installed the latest version of WhatsApp beta for iOS and is slated for a broader rollout to the general user base in future updates.
Enhanced Privacy and New Translation Tools
This quality-of-life update is part of a series of strategic feature rollouts by WhatsApp aimed at modernizing the user experience and maintaining a competitive edge. Among these recent enhancements is a powerful new translation feature that allows users to translate messages directly within the popular network.
To translate a message, a user simply needs to long press on the text and tap the “Translation” option. They can then select their preferred language, with the ability to download language packs for subsequent offline use.
Crucially, WhatsApp has emphasized that all translations are processed locally on the user’s device. This commitment to on-device processing aligns with the app’s foundational end-to-end encryption protocol, ensuring that even the parent company, Meta, is unable to access or view the content of messages.
Availability of this translation tool varies by platform:
- iPhone users have access to over 19 languages, including Dutch, French, German, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Thai, and Turkish.
- Android users are limited to six languages and currently do not have access to an additional convenience feature: automatic translation for the entire chat thread. Once enabled, all incoming messages in a conversation will be translated automatically without requiring manual activation for every single text.
