WhatsApp recently removed text-only statuses in lieu of personalised photos, GIFs, and videos that expire 24 hours later – and the community isn’t enthused.

Users want to keep it simple

The recent popularity of Snapchat’s Stories has prompted a slew of copycat approaches to bring stylised photos and video to user profiles.

WhatsApp isn’t the only competitor trying to follow suit with Instagram Stories also capitalising on the addition of personalised visuals to their existing platform.

Now WhatsApp is pivoting by brining back text-based statuses to the About section of user profiles, and will be rolling out the update to Android users in the coming days, with iPhone soon to follow.

Have your cake and photograph it too

Content-driven communication has proven to have its niche, but tends to go against the traditional habits of the WhatsApp community. Now users have the option to set their statuses as they see fit in whichever format.

The opportunity of allowing for “stories” means ads can be wedged between slideshows which is a plus for WhatsApp’s revenue, but could become tiresome for users.

With Facebook trying a similar approach with mixed reviews, WhatsApp’s ability to listen to their users may be their saving grace.