Washington, DC – WhatsApp, owned by Meta Inc., has begun testing a new feature designed to enhance real-time communication between users by displaying a green dot next to currently active contacts. This comes about a month after the same feature was spotted in the beta version for Android devices. Now, it has also been observed on iPhones.
Checking the connection status before messaging
WABetaInfo, a website specializing in WhatsApp updates, explained that this feature allows users to see if the person they want to message is actually available and online. The feature works via a real-time indicator that appears and disappears in real time. When the user stops using the app, the green circle disappears immediately. This reflects the user’s actual status in real time.
Privacy safeguards: “The green dot” is under control
To reassure users who fear a decline in privacy, Meta has integrated two mechanisms to protect data and activity:
“Online Now” status: Users who have previously enabled the option to hide their “Online Now” status via privacy settings will not see the green dot, and it will not appear to others either.
Actual activity: A user is only classified as “online” if the application is actually open on their screen. This means that simply connecting the phone to the internet or having the application running in the background will not trigger this indicator.
Limited availability currently
In a move indicating that the feature is still in its early stages, the green dot currently doesn’t appear prominently in places like the main chat list or within the live chat window. Users need to tap the top bar of the chat to navigate to the “Contact Info” page to see the indicator. Experts believe this limited appearance is temporary, as Meta is expected to give it a more prominent presence in the main interfaces in the future. The company is also currently developing a dedicated contact screen. This screen will display a list of people who are currently active or have recently been online, making communication easier.
It’s worth noting that this feature is currently being rolled out to a very limited number of users as part of WhatsApp’s phased rollout strategy to gather feedback and improve performance before wider release. This step follows a series of major updates recently released by the app. These updates included the introduction of usernames as an alternative to phone numbers and improvements to call functionality on desktop computers. With these advancements, WhatsApp continues its efforts to become a more inclusive platform for digital communication.
