WhatsApp is one of the most widely used messaging apps in the world, but to hold on to that success and keep users happy it has to move with the times and keep reinventing itself. In fact, especially since the Meta acquisition, WhatsApp has been surprising its audience with a steady stream of updates — not always dramatic, but consistently aimed at what users actually need.
The latest is a green dot on the profile picture, already live on many Android devices running the beta version of the app, which lets people try changes early and contribute to testing ahead of the final release. Some users may therefore have already spotted a green dot appear on certain contacts’ profile photos, while others have not, even with WhatsApp beta installed. Either way, it will soon be built into the general version of the app.
What the green dot on a WhatsApp profile picture means
Anyone used to Instagram or Facebook will probably have grasped the meaning of the green dot on WhatsApp profile pictures right away. Exactly as it works in the messaging sections of those two platforms — Instagram direct messages and Facebook Messenger — the green dot signals that the user is online. It does not necessarily mean they are actively chatting, just that they are currently active on the platform.
To give some everyday examples: if you open the app with no internet connection, the dot does not appear, while it stays put if the app is left open without any interaction. By introducing this system, WhatsApp wants to improve the user experience, letting people recognize a contact’s activity at a glance — without having to check the status line inside the chat — and bringing its mechanics more in line with the rest of Meta. Naturally, the option is still subject to the privacy settings chosen by each user, which can be changed at any time.
Anyone who chooses not to show their activity status and last-seen will not see any dot on other people’s profile photos, and likewise will not be shown as online to others. That is why a number of users running the beta have not yet come across the feature, which in any case is being rolled out gradually. In practice, it could take a while before the green dot is extended on a large scale, since several steps still need to be completed to make it genuinely useful.
WhatsApp’s green dot isn’t final (yet)
For now, in the experimental version, the green dot that flags a contact’s activity appears only on the chat-info screen, on the profile picture. As such, it does not streamline things compared with the classic activity-status check — if anything it adds steps, one more reason why various users have not noticed it. There is no cause for concern, though, because this is purely a test. The goal is inevitably to include the green-dot indicator on every screen, allowing users to spot who is online at a glance while using the app.
In fact, WhatsApp is already working on the next step: building a dedicated screen that acts as a contacts hub. From there it will be possible to see all online and recently active contacts — it is not yet clear whether they will be ordered alphabetically by saved name or chronologically by when their session began. The new feature was first released on the Android beta (version 2.26.24.5), from which it should gradually be extended. Checking is very simple; anyone on the beta (and in future, everyone) just needs to:
- open WhatsApp;
- make sure they are connected to the internet;
- allow activity-status visibility in the privacy settings;
- open the chat of someone who is using WhatsApp and tap their name to view their information.
Once it becomes visible from the chat list when the app opens — presumably when the update reaches the general public — it will be impossible to miss.
Editor’s note
This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by Ilena D’Errico on June 21, 2026 as «Nuova funzionalità di WhatsApp, arriva il puntino verde nell’immagine del profilo. Cosa significa». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.
