How Does WhatsApp Status Work?
WhatsApp status is a bit of a camouflaged feature that can easily slip under your radar. To get to it in the Android app, you’ll need to open WhatsApp and press on the “Status” tab at the top of the screen. In the iOS app, tap the “Status” option in the bottom-left corner of the display. On desktop, you’ll need to click on the circular icon on the left side of the screen. Here you’ll be able to see a list of people who have posted statuses. If you want to check them out, you’ll need to press on a contact’s bubble. Once you do that, they will be able to see that you viewed their status on their end. Statuses are akin to Instagram’s popular Stories. They are basically pictures and short videos that give others a glimpse of the creator’s day-to-day activities. If you’d like to view someone’s status without them knowing, try one of the methods listed below.
1. Turn on the App’s Anonymous Status Viewer Option
Let us begin by looking at how you can view a WhatsApp status secretly with the built-in option. These steps work whether you’re accessing the service on your mobile device or PC. There is one important drawback of using this method. Once you have disabled this setting, you can’t see who has seen your status. This setting will also hide the read receipt (blue tick) in normal messages. If you don’t want that to happen, you may want to proceed to the next technique.
2. Use a File Manager
This method requires you to have a file manager application installed on your Android smartphone, especially one that has the option to view hidden files. Either download one of the many file manager apps in the Play Store, or follow our recommendations here. Depending on you phone’s default file manager, you may not even need to get a third-party one on board. In this example, we are using the native File Manager app on a OnePlus device, but you can use any other one. This method is meant to be used on your smartphone.
3. Install a Third-Party App
Another alternative is to install a third-party app that promises to help you keep track and download new statuses without being seen. A good example is Status Saver – Video Download. It’s only available for Android, but there are some options for iOS users too. While the app works really well, there’s one downside: it’s riddled with ads. However, this shouldn’t be a huge problem if you’re only using it to check out a WhatsApp status secretly once in a while. Alternatively, you can opt to upgrade to the Pro version, which will remove ads completely and add a few bonus features. A few other worthy apps that allow you to view WhatsApp statuses incognito are:
Status Save to Gallery (Android)Status Saver – WA Status Saver (Android)Status Saver for WhatsApp Save (iOS)
4. View Before Expiry
A WhatsApp status remains live for 24 hours. If you wish to view a WhatsApp status secretly, then you can keep track of the time when the target person’s status was uploaded, and just before the expiry, view it. Many people don’t bother to check how many people have viewed their status that late. It is not a foolproof method, but it is worth a try. Image credit: Mourizal Zativa via Unsplash All screenshots by Alexandra Arici. When that happens, a person who has not been cleared for viewing the status won’t be able to see that you’ve posted a new WhatsApp status. None of the methods described in this article will pick up the hidden status if its owner decides to hide it from you. Note: you need to change the privacy settings first, then upload the status. If you do it the other way around, it won’t work.
