Summary

  • WhatsApp is finally rolling out its long-awaited music integration for Status Updates, allowing users to add background music (up to 15 seconds for photos and 60 seconds for videos).
  • To add music, users need to initiate a Status Update and tap the new music note icon to search a library of licensed songs, with a potential “For You” section based on listening habits.
  • Looking to the future, WhatsApp is also testing a Meta AI-powered feature that would allow users to generate custom profile photos directly within the app based on text prompts, saving time compared to using a separate AI image generator.

WhatsApp‘s long-awaited music integration for Status Updates is finally rolling out after months of early leaks and rumors.

First spotted all the way back in October last year, the feature started landing for some in beta earlier this year. Now, having fully matured, music integration is finally available for users to try out in stable.

WhatsApp


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WhatsApp’s music integration for Status Updates starts landing for some

Channeling its inner Instagram



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WhatsApp’s Status Updates are now on par with Instagram’s stories. With new support for music integration, users should now be able to scour through a vast list of licensed music, likely thanks to Meta’s global agreement with Universal Music.

To integrate music, initiate a Status Update and tap the new music note icon on the top right. Search for the song of your choice. If WhatsApp’s implementation is similar to Instagram’s, the section should feature a ‘For You’ list with music you might like based on your previous searches. Once you have a song selected, you should be able to scrub through to find the exact part of the song and lyrics that you want to add to your Status Update.

In the case of photo stories, you can only add a 15-second background track. Video Status Updates allow you to add up to 60 seconds of background music.

WhatsApp says the feature is rolling out now globally, and will be widely visible over the next few weeks. For what it’s worth, music integration hasn’t rolled out for me yet, and I’m unable to check if the recently-found direct Spotify sharing is live with this update.

WhatsApp


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WhatsApp Status Updates could soon play your favorite Spotify hits

Instagram-like integration appears to be on the way

Looking to the future

Elsewhere, while music integration is now going live, the messaging giant is also working on other upgrades to go live in the future. One of them could very well be a Meta AI-powered feature for generating WhatsApp profile photos (PFP). Previously spotted almost a year ago, the feature is now starting to become visible to users running WhatsApp beta 2.25.9.8, as highlighted by WABetaInfo.

Contrary to what you might have thought, the tool doesn’t alter your current/existing PFP in any way. Instead, it generates an image completely based off of your prompts.

Essentially, the feature is Meta AI’s image generator tech stack embedded right within your profile screen, saving users the time they would have spent navigating to Meta AI → generating an image → saving it → uploading it as a PFP.