Messaging platform's Snapchat-like feature is now available in Nigeria

folarin okunola

February 26, 2017 8:27 PM

Post a story and it shows up in a new "status" tab where your contacts can view it for the next 24 hours.

The new WhatsApp feature

Last week, Pulse Techreported thatFacebook, via WhatsApp, has cloned Snapchat's Stories format and will be replacing its traditionally text-based Status format with the new feature.

The global roll-out of this feature to WhatsApp's billion-plus users began on Monday, and it is now available in Nigeria on Android, iOS and WindowsMobile.

WhatsApp stories work from an in-app camera, just like Snapchat, and you can decorate the photo with drawings, text and emoji.

Post a story and it shows up in a new "status" tab where your contacts can view it for the next 24 hours. You and your friends can respond to each others' updates directly from the post.

ALSO READ: Yet another Facebook product has cloned Snapchat's Stories format

WhatsApp is the fourth Facebook-owned product to clone Snapchat's defining feature after Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger - although Facebook and Messenger are still testing the feature.

“When WhatsApp launched nearly 8 years ago (on Feb. 24th), it started as an app for sharing status updates, where people could type a short line of text to let their friends know what they were up to,” the company said in a blog post. “When we noticed people were using the feature to communicate in real time, we redesigned WhatsApp as a messaging app.”

The feature should be available on your device with the latest update. Meanwhile, Snap Inc., Snapchat's parent company, has more to worry about against its IPO coming up in March.

folarin okunola