WhatsApp Tests Online Status Dot on iPhone, Hidden Two Taps Away

WhatsApp is testing a green dot indicator that appears on a contact’s profile photo when they are active in the app, disappearing the moment they leave. The feature is currently live for some users in the WhatsApp beta for iOS 26.26.10.72 on TestFlight, after first appearing on Android last month.

The placement is where things get interesting. Rather than appearing in the chat list or inside a conversation, where users would actually notice it, the green dot only surfaces in the chat info screen, the page you reach by tapping a contact’s name at the top of a chat. That is two taps away from anything a person does naturally in the app.

Whether the indicator eventually moves somewhere more visible is an open question. WaBetaInfo, which first spotted the feature, notes the placement could change in future updates. For now, the practical utility of an online indicator that requires active navigation to find is limited.

Privacy Rules Still Apply

The feature respects WhatsApp’s existing privacy controls. If a contact has opted to hide their last seen and online status, the green dot will not appear for them regardless of whether they are active. That consistency matters, since a new visual layer that quietly bypassed existing settings would have been a different conversation entirely.

Rollout is gradual even within the beta. The dot is available to some TestFlight participants now, with broader beta availability expected over the coming weeks. There is no timeline for when it reaches the stable version that most users run. For comparison, other beta features like AI-assisted visual tools on Apple’s platform have similarly appeared in testing well before any confirmed public release date, a pattern that makes early sightings useful context without being a reliable schedule.