WhatsApp has been working on a quick response feature for status updates for a few months now and it seems that the public launch of this feature is getting closer as the Meta-owned platform has started testing it on Android with the app’s beta version 2.24.17.21.

When viewing a status, users will see a heart-shaped “Like” button next to the reply text box, allowing them to like that status update. And when someone likes your status, you’ll see it in the list of status viewers, similar to Instagram Stories. WhatsApp also lets users decide whether or not they want to receive notifications for those likes.

Like Reactions for WhatsApp Status Updates

Another feature that WhatsApp is developing that focuses on user security and privacy is that it allows users to block messages from unknown accounts. When this feature is enabled, WhatsApp will automatically block messages from unknown accounts if they exceed a certain amount.

WhatsApp is working on a feature to block messages from unknown accounts

This feature is currently in development and is not even available to beta users yet, so it is unclear how long it will take for WhatsApp to release it publicly.

Source 1, Source 2