WhatsApp is preparing to introduce a new functionality focused on confidentiality which allows users to share status updates with a more selective audience. Development has been spotted in the beta iOS 25.23.10.80 update, available via Apple’s Testflight application, while WhatsApp Meta-constituted continues to refine how users interact with its platform.
The update includes the option to create a “Close Friends” list in the application confidentiality settings. Once the list is configured, users will be able to choose whether an update of status is shared with their default or limited audience for their close friends. This feature reflects an already familiar functionality to Instagram users, where private updates are visually distinguished. On WhatsApp, the statutes shared only with close friends will wear a different color, which makes them immediately recognizable.
📝 WhatsApp Beta for iOS 25.23.10.80: What’s new?
WhatsApp is working on a feature that allows users to share status updates with their close friends, and it will be available in future update! pic.twitter.com/uxtvq02uao– Wabetainfo (@wabetainfo) August 31, 2025
The management of the list of close friends will also be discreet. The contacts added or deleted from the list will not be informed of any modification. If the list is updated after published status, only the contacts on the list at the time of publication will be able to see it. To include newly added friends in an already shared update, users should delete and republish the status. Although this may require additional effort, it guarantees that visibility remains consistent and avoids involuntary access.
The functionality is designed to provide greater control and confidentiality to users who wish to separate their general updates from those intended for a smaller circle. By offering users flexibility at the time of publication, WhatsApp aims to reproduce a more personal form of communication in its wider design focused on the audience.
In addition to the FERM Friends option, WhatsApp recently deployed another tool related to the status in its beta iOS 25.22.83 version. The update introduced a shortcut “my status” dedicated in the iOS sharing sheet. This allows users to publish photos and videos as the status is directly updated from other applications, without first going into the WhatsApp interface. The shortcut rationalizes the process, allowing users to modify their updates with text, drawings or emojis before publication.
According to WhatsApp, the change is intended to make sharing “faster and easier”, while expanding the choice of users in the way they express themselves on the platform.
These updates highlight the emphasis put by WhatsApp on improving confidentiality and efficiency. With more than two billion users worldwide, the application has gradually extended beyond messaging to become a wider communication center. The addition of a list of close friends for status updates could mark another step to personalize the user experience, giving people more control over who they are sharing.
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