WhatsApp is reviving some old school internet nostalgia with a new feature that allows users to add temporary music clips to their profile updates. Snippets from popular songs can now be featured in WhatsApp statuses, with availability rolling out globally and expanding “over the coming weeks,” according to parent company Meta.
WhatsApp’s status feature is located in the updates tab, and can be used to share text, photo, and video messages that disappear after 24 hours, similar to the Stories feature available on Facebook and Instagram. When users tap to add a status, a music note icon will now appear at the top of the screen that allows music to be added — up to 15 seconds for a photo, or 60 seconds for a video.
WhatsApp says that its music library has “millions of songs to choose from,” and that users can select the exact part of a track to add to their status — handy for zoning in on specific lyrics or soundbites for participating in viral trends. The in-status music update follows Meta adding similar capabilities to Instagram, and popularized previously by similar features found on defunct platforms like AIM and MySpace.
Status updates on WhatsApp, much like messages, are end-to-end encrypted. WhatsApp says it can’t see what users share and won’t know which songs are added to your status updates — so the company itself may not judge you for having appalling taste in tunes, but that won’t extend to any friends who see them.
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