WhatsApp is preparing to introduce a feature aimed at making it easier to know the status of contacts, but always with an eye on privacy. The latest news emerged in the Android beta version (2.26.24.5): the messaging platform is introducing a small but significant change, a green dot that appears directly on the profile photo of contacts when they are online.
In this way the online status of users is immediately recognizable, eliminating the need to open the chat to look for any confirmations inside it.
Anyway, it’s worth noting that, for now, the new indicator is visible only inside the chat information screen — as shown in the image above.
Currently, the app communicates a contact’s availability via a simple text label placed under the user’s name within the chat. With the new feature, the green dot replaces or complements that signal.
The green indicator is positioned directly on the profile photo, allowing real-time availability to be known at a glance, significantly enhancing the user experience while navigating the app.
A key aspect of this feature concerns privacy management: WhatsApp has confirmed that the green dot strictly respects the privacy settings already configured by the user.
This means that if a contact has chosen to hide their online status or last seen, the green dot will not be shown. Moreover, this feature is just the first piece of a broader project: the company is indeed working on a dedicated section called the Contacts Hub, where it will be possible to view a complete list of people currently online or recently active, sorted by name or status.
Currently the green dot is limited to the chat info screen and is not yet present in the general conversations list. However, it is very likely that it will reach other sections of the app in upcoming updates.
Before I sign off, we note once again that the new feature is available in beta and there is no word on when it will be rolled out to the stable version.
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