Just a few days ago, WhatsApp rolled out a new feature – Snapchat like story-based status for WhatsApp and it received enough criticism from users worldwide, who wanted the old text based status option back for the instant messaging app. Now, WhatsApp is testing the same via Android beta v2.17.95.
Although the feature is still under testing, it can be accessed through WhatsApp beta community in Google Play. It is now ascertained that WhatsApp will soon be releasing the stable updated version.
According to Gadgets 360, Beta users can see the old text status feature by clicking the three dot icon on the top right corner. Then you need to go to the settings option and open 'About and phone number' section wherein you can see the old status option back. It comes with the same default options as before, such as, "available", "busy", "at school" etc. Here you can update your status message and surprisingly, it doesn't disappear even after 24 hours.
The revival of the old status feature doesn't mean that the new image-based story-like feature is gone. It is still very much there in a separate tab. Fortunately or unfortunately there is still no way to disable this feature.
Gadgets 360 also noted that the 'About and phone number' section which is supposed to be available for the beta users is not visible to some users, despite being on WhatsApp v2.17.95 for Android.
