Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
TL; DR
- WhatsApp is testing a new feature on iOS that shows which of your contacts have been online recently.
- Contacts who have turned off their 'Last seen' or online status will not be visible.
- The same feature was recently introduced in the Android beta version of WhatsApp.
WhatsAppone of the most popular chat apps, recently introduced a “Recently Online” feature in its beta app for Android. Now evidence has been discovered by WaBetaInfo within the latest WhatsApp beta for iOS (24.9.10.71), available on TestFlight, suggests that iOS users will soon be able to receive the same functionality.
The Recent Online feature is visible to select beta users and provides a limited overview of your contacts' recent activity on WhatsApp. When you start a new chat or make a call, you will now see which contacts have been active recently.
This won't provide a live feed of everyone currently online, but it will give you a valuable indication of who is more likely to respond to your messages or calls.
From now on, it looks like your existing WhatsApp privacy settings will be integrated with the Recent Online feature. Therefore, contacts who have disabled the visibility of their “Last Seen” or online status will not be included in the Recently Online list.
This feature can increase engagement with the app because users are more likely to contact you if they see that a contact has been active recently. Such strategies to increase the time a user spends in the app are not uncommon on social media platforms.
The feature is currently only available to select iOS beta testers. A wider rollout for iOS users is likely in the near future.