WhatsApp is letting users post voice notes as statuses

WhatsApp is now allowing voice notes to be posted as statuses, which means up to 30 seconds of recordings for a person's contacts to hear. These voice notes will disappear after 24 hours, and is the latest in what can be shared via the status feature.

Statuses were first introduced by WhatsApp in 2017; so far, photos, videos, GIFs and texts have been included as possibilities. The new voice feature is being added as voice messages have become a more popular feature on the app. In March last year, the company declared that 7 billion voice messages were being sent daily.

In addition to this, WhatsApp is building on statuses by allowing status reactions, just as the company launched message reactions last year. There will also be the option to choose your audience for statuses, so not all contacts are privy to such posts. The audience selection can be saved and used for all subsequent statuses.

It's unclear how many people actually use statuses to communicate with friends, but the company is clearly working to drive traction towards this feature.