The green circle will disappear when the contact is no longer online
In the quiet architecture of digital connection, WhatsApp is testing a small green dot on iOS that signals, in real time, when a contact is present and active. Discovered in a closed beta by WABetaInfo, the feature mirrors testing already underway on Android, offering users a subtle window into one another's availability. It is a modest gesture toward transparency in the always-on world of messaging — one that, by design, bends to the privacy choices each person has already made for themselves.
- A tiny green circle, appearing at the corner of a contact's profile photo, promises to collapse the uncertainty of whether someone is truly reachable right now.
- The feature is deliberately narrow — visible only on the contact info screen, not in the chat list where the decision to message someone actually happens.
- Privacy guardrails are already in place: users who have hidden their online status see no green dot appear beside their name for others.
- Access remains locked to a small pool of beta testers on both iOS and Android, with no public release date announced.
- Meta's history of extended — and sometimes abandoned — beta experiments means this green dot may yet fade before it ever reaches the wider world.
WhatsApp is quietly testing a feature that lets users see, at a glance, whether a contact is actively using the app. A small green dot appears at the bottom-right corner of a contact's profile photo on the contact info screen, updating in real time and disappearing the moment they go offline. The feature was spotted by WABetaInfo in iOS beta version 26.26.10.72, and mirrors testing already running on Android.
For now, the indicator lives in only one place — the contact info screen — rather than the main chat list where it might feel most immediately useful. Meta has chosen a narrow starting point, leaving open the question of whether the feature will expand in scope.
Privacy has been woven into the design from the start. The green dot follows the same rules as WhatsApp's existing last seen and online status controls: if a user has already chosen to hide that information, no dot will appear beside their name for others. Existing preferences carry forward without any additional configuration.
The feature remains available only to select beta testers, and Meta has offered no timeline for a broader rollout. As with many of the company's experiments, it may spend months in testing — or disappear entirely. For now, it stands as a small, considered step toward making the ever-present nature of messaging apps a little more legible to those who wish to see it.
WhatsApp is quietly expanding a feature that lets you know, at a glance, whether someone is actually online right now. The company has begun testing a small green dot on iOS that appears next to a contact's profile picture when they're actively using the app—a signal that mirrors testing already underway on Android.
The discovery comes from WABetaInfo, which spotted the feature in beta version 26.26.10.72 of WhatsApp for iOS. If you're running the latest beta on an iPhone, you'll see a tiny green circle positioned at the bottom-right corner of a contact's photo when you open their contact information screen. The indicator updates in real time, vanishing the moment they step away.
Right now, the green dot appears only in one place: the contact info screen you reach by tapping someone's profile picture. It's a narrow implementation, and there's a reasonable argument that it would be more useful elsewhere—in the main chat list, for instance, where you're actually deciding whether to message someone. But that's where Meta has chosen to start.
The company has built the feature with privacy in mind, applying the same rules it uses for last seen and online status indicators. If someone has already disabled those visibility settings—choosing to hide when they were last active or whether they're currently online—the green dot won't show up for them either. Your existing privacy choices carry forward automatically.
The feature remains in beta testing on both Android and iOS, available only to a subset of users who've opted into testing. There's no public timeline for when, or if, this will roll out to everyone. Meta tends to test features like this for months before deciding whether they're worth releasing broadly, and sometimes they disappear entirely. For now, it's a small experiment in a closed group, a signal that the company is thinking about how to make the always-on nature of messaging apps a little more transparent—or at least, a little more visible to those who want to see it.
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Why does WhatsApp need to tell you if someone is online right now? Doesn't that feel like it's adding pressure to respond faster?
It does add a layer of visibility, yes. But the company's argument is that you already know when someone was last active—this just makes the current moment explicit. Some people find that useful for deciding whether to call instead of text.
But it's only in the contact info screen. That seems almost deliberately hidden.
It does feel limited. You have to actively tap into someone's profile to see it. If it were in the chat list, it would be much more prominent, and maybe that's exactly why they're starting small—testing whether people actually want this level of real-time awareness.
What about the privacy angle? Does hiding your online status actually work?
Yes, it does. If you've already turned off online status sharing, the green dot won't appear for you. Meta is treating it like any other status indicator, so your existing choices are respected.
So this could eventually show up everywhere in the app?
Possibly. Right now it's just a test with a small group of beta users. Whether it expands depends on feedback and whether Meta thinks it improves the experience or just creates more anxiety.