WhatsApp Tests Green Dot to Show When Contacts Are Online
News Desk
Islamabad: WhatsApp is testing a new feature that makes it easier to know when your contacts are currently active, introducing a familiar green dot indicator that users of Instagram and Facebook Messenger will instantly recognize.
The feature, first spotted by WABetaInfo, is being rolled out to a limited number of beta testers on both Android and iOS. While it does not introduce a new way of sharing online status, it replaces the traditional text-based “online” label with a cleaner visual cue.
A simpler way to spot active contacts
During the current testing phase, the green dot appears only within a contact’s profile. When users open the “Chat Info” or contact information screen, a small green circle is displayed on the bottom-right corner of the contact’s profile picture if that person is actively using WhatsApp.
Instead of displaying the word “online” beneath a contact’s name, the app now uses the green indicator, creating a more streamlined interface. The dot appears in real time as soon as a user opens WhatsApp and disappears automatically once they leave the app or become inactive.
Privacy settings stay the same
Despite the visual change, WhatsApp is not altering its privacy rules.
The green dot follows the user’s existing Last Seen & Online privacy settings. Anyone who has chosen to hide their online status from certain people, or from everyone, will not display the green indicator to those contacts.
As with the current system, users who disable their own online visibility will also be unable to see the online indicators of others, maintaining WhatsApp’s long-standing approach to mutual privacy.
A step toward a redesigned WhatsApp
Although the feature is currently limited to individual contact profiles, signs suggest Meta has bigger plans for the messaging platform.
According to information uncovered in the beta version, the company is working on a dedicated Contacts Hub that could allow users to view a centralized list of contacts who are currently online or were recently active.
Such a feature would bring WhatsApp’s interface closer to other Meta-owned messaging platforms while making it easier to identify available contacts at a glance.
The green dot indicator is still under testing and is available only to select beta users. If testing proceeds smoothly, the feature is expected to be included in a future stable release of WhatsApp for all users.
