WhatsApp to bring collage feature for cleaner status updates with 'Layouts'
Inspired by Instagram, the feature lets users share up to six photos in stylish grids.

What you need to know
- WhatsApp’s new “Layout” feature enables users to share collaged photos as status updates, similar to Instagram’s Stories.
- Users can select from multiple grid options to share up to six photos from their Android gallery.
- The feature is currently hidden and in testing, with a demo showcasing its potential appearance and functionality.
WhatsApp was found testing a new feature that is popular on Meta's other social media platforms like Instagram. The feature allows users to share collaged pics as status updates.
According to an APK Insight performed by folks at Android Authority, the messaging app was seen using a new “Layout” feature, which helps users pick a collage layout to post multiple pictures at once while sharing them as status updates. It is similar to Instagram’s Stories feature as it also supports layout photo sharing format.
With the new upcoming WhatsApp feature, the aim here is to keep the status updates cleaner than clumsy as is the case now when users want to share multiple photos at once. The Layout feature allows users to share up to six photos at once and they can be picked up from their Android phone’s gallery, and it additionally provides multiple grid options to choose from.
While currently hidden, the feature's showcased demo by the publication gives us an idea of how the "Layouts" will supposedly look when it rolls out to the masses shortly.
Users can head over to the status page and hit the camera icon, which takes them to the phone’s gallery the Layout option should be seen right next to the “voice” and “music” options, and they can add the preferred six photos and choose from the provided grid styles. The final status update screen, however, remains to be seen as the feature is still in the testing phase.
WhatsApp Status has seen significant improvements over the past few months. They've started allowing users to like the status updates alongside allowing users to privately mention their friends from the contacts, who can further repost the update as their status update. All these features are also borrowed from Instagram, and the upcoming new one might soon be added to that list.
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Vishnu is a freelance news writer for Android Central. Since 2018, he has written about consumer technology, especially smartphones, computers, and every other gizmo connected to the internet. When he is not at the keyboard, you can find him on a long drive or lounging on the couch binge-watching a crime series.
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