WhatsApp introduces improvements to ‘About Me’
WhatsApp is working on a revamped ‘About Me’ section for the Android app. The update will make it easier to manage your profile text and give you a quicker overview of who can see this information. The new version has been spotted in the WhatsApp beta for Android (version 2.26.24.1) and is currently being rolled out gradually to beta users.
The biggest change is a handy preview at the top of the screen. This lets you see straight away what your ‘About me’ text looks like when someone views your profile. That way, you no longer have to guess how the information is displayed to others.
The privacy settings are also easier to access. Instead of going to a separate settings menu, you can choose who can see your ‘About me’ text directly from the same screen. You can also still set a time for the text to expire automatically.
Alongside this change, WhatsApp is working on further improvements for Android. For example, the group information screen is getting a new layout, with settings grouped in a clearer way. There will also be a separate page making it easier to manage and delete old and duplicate chat backups. This should help free up storage space.
WhatsApp is also testing a green dot that indicates when a contact is online. At the moment, this only appears on the chat information screen, but the plan is for the indicator to become visible in other parts of the app later on.
There’s also a new feature in the pipeline for fans of voice messages. WhatsApp is developing a widget for the Android home screen that will allow you to record a voice message straight away and then send it to one or more contacts, without having to open the app first. Finally, the privacy setting for avatar stickers is being removed. This is linked to WhatsApp’s decision to gradually phase out avatars from the app. Any avatar stickers you’ve saved will still be available via your recent or favourite stickers.
As is usual with beta versions, not all features are immediately available to everyone. WhatsApp first tests the new features extensively before rolling them out to all users in a future update. It is not yet known when this will happen.
Via Wabetainfo
