WhatsApp has been including a lot of new features off late. The current updates have brought features like video calls, two-step verification and it recently introduced its brand new “Status” feature, which is essentially identical to Instagram Stories, which in turn was a rip off of Snapchat Stories. Different the previous text based Status updates, the new Status feature in WhatsApp requires you to post photographs, videos and GIFs, which disappear after 24 hours.
Get Old WhatsApp Status on Non-Rooted Devices
On non-rooted devices, you can simply install an older APK of WhatsApp to get the old Status back. You can just download this version of WhatsApp from APKMirror and install it.
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Then, you can just set up your WhatsApp account, after which you should see the older WhatsApp home page with no Status tab in it.
Now this method works fine, WhatsApp may choose to remove support for older WhatsApp builds soon. In that case, there’s a workaround that should work with most WhatsApp versions.
Get Old WhatsApp Status on Rooted Devices
This workaround to get the old WhatsApp status back requires a rooted Android device. Additionally, it’s important to note that this method on WhatsApp v2.17.77 and it worked out perfectly. You can check out your WhatsApp version in WhatsApp Settings->About and help->About. If you have a different WhatsApp version, you can still try out the process but if it does not work out, you can download the version from APK Mirror.
So, if you are all set, you’ll need a file manager app that includes support for root access. If you are using the ES File Explorer (free) but you can use the file manager of your choice. Now that you have the file manager installed, here are the steps to rollback to the old WhatsApp status:
- First, go to Settings->Apps->WhatsAppand tap on “Force Stop“.
- Then, go to ES File Explorer or the file manager you are using and enable “Root Explorer”. In ES File Explorer, you will find it in the left sidebar. The app may ask you to select the appropriate permissions for the Root Explorer, choose “RW” for everything.
- Once done, open up device files. In ES File Explorer, you can tap on “Local” in the sidebar and then, tap on “Device“. When the “Device” folder opens up, go to data->data->com.whatsapp->shared_prefs folder.
- In the “shared_prefs” folder, tap on the “com.whatsapp_preferences.xml” file to open it up. You’ll be asked to choose the editor to open the file. You can choose “ES Note Editor” or the text editor that comes with the file manager you are using. When the file opens up, hit the three-dot menu button and tap on the “Edit” option.
- In the “com.whatsapp_preferences.xml” file, you have to locate the text that says“status mode” value=”1″. When you find it, you just have to change the “1” to “0”. Do make sure to not edit anything else. Once done, savethe XML file.
- Once done, just open WhatsApp and the Status tab will be gone. You will find the Calls, Chats and Contacts tab, just like you want it. You will also find the “Status” option in the menu and you can just tap on it and set the same old text status in WhatsApp.
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