Summary

  • WhatsApp is borrowing Instagram’s Layout feature for creating photo collages in status updates.
  • The feature is not live yet, but will allow users to create a collage of up to 6 photos with different grid options.
  • This aims to address the issue of cluttered ‘chain stories’ by enabling users to combine multiple photos into a single, organized status update.

Digital status and story updates have become a universal element across social media platforms. First popularized by Snapchat in 2013, the story format has since made its way to several other platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and even WhatsApp.

The latter, WhatsApp, has continuously enhanced the feature since its arrival in 2017, allowing users to share channel posts via status updates, add music to their stories, cross-post status updates to Instagram and Facebook, and a lot more.

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Now, in a bid to further refine status updates, WhatsApp seems to be borrowing another feature from Instagram — one that Insta has been offering since 2019. As spotted by the folks over at Android Authority, the messaging giant is working on porting Instagram’s ‘Layout’ feature to WhatsApp, allowing users to create a collage of their memories right within the Status Update UI.

Manually enabled in WhatsApp Messenger 2.25.8.5 beta, the upcoming feature could let users create a collage of up to six photos at once, with several different grid options to choose from for the collage layout.

Layout for WhatsApp is still in development

This should combat the issue of chain stories, where a user posts multiple Status Updates one after the other to convey a single thought or share photos from a single event in a disjointed manner.

For what it’s worth, the feature isn’t live yet, not even in the latest beta, and sideloading WhatsApp wouldn’t surface it for you just yet. However, once live, creating a collage would be as simple as heading to the Updates tab in the bottom bar and tapping on Add status. This screen should surface the new Layout option, which would allow you to pick photos from your photo gallery. You should then be able to reposition images within the grid, or change the grid layout altogether.

The feature is still under development, with the workflow for finally publishing the collage yet to be seen. Additionally, it is also unclear what said Status Updates would look like on the viewers’ end.