WhatsApp axes another popular feature days after outrage over ‘typing…’ replacement

Days after the long-running ‘typing…’ message was controversially removed from WhatsApp, users have noticed a second significant alteration to the program.

The notice at the top of the screen that someone is recording a voice note seems to have been removed from the Meta-owned site.

An icon for a microphone has taken its place at the bottom of the screen.

Although some users have already noticed the small shift, more have reported noticing it this week.

It’s unclear if WhatsApp is making this function broadly available or testing it for a small group of users.

However, considering the outcry over the replacement of “typing…”, the change is guaranteed to irritate some.

Additionally, it no longer shows as text at the top of the screen; instead, a speech bubble with three dots at the bottom takes its place.

One user at the time posted on X, “I don’t like the new typing indicator on WhatsApp.”

“WhatsApp now has the three dots typing thing like iMessage and I Hateeeee it,” a another individual stated.

The redesign has drawn comparisons to Apple’s competing Messages app.

The new typing indicator is permanent and being rolled out, WhatsApp said today.

WhatsApp has previously made minor changes that sparked criticism.

The social network came under fire earlier this year for merely capitalizing the words “Online” and “Typing…”

The social network reversed course and claimed it was just “a small test” because of this.