WhatsApp has reintroduced statuses again in its latest beta app, after having rolled out a stories like feature to replace statuses last month, reports Android Police. The new beta sports both these features, and can be downloaded via joining the Play Store official beta channel. Note that the company’s stories like feature to replace statuses allows users to users share photos, video and GIFs as statuses that disappear after 24 hours, similar to Instagram Stories, which allows users and businesses to post pictures and videos for 24 hours, after which they self-destruct, and Snapchat which lets users upload pictures and content that is short-lived and self-deleting. However, users took an issue with the update, as previously statuses had to be updated only once, after which it remained that until changed. The new update started forcing users to either not use a status, or update every 24 hours. Looks like the company will now take the middle ground, leaving the old status feature alone, while also keeping the self-destructing statuses feature. Monetization via messaging: Earlier this month, WhatsApp started testing a system to let businesses talk directly to WhatsApp users. Overall, the platform is looking to monetize its users since it dropped its subscription fees plan, and allowing businesses to message users will do just that. This move is taking a leaf out of parent Facebook’s book – Messenger started allowing businesses to send ads to users as long as the given user had previously had a chat with the business,…
