After rolling out a bottom navigation bar on Android, WhatsApp is now working on another major interface redesign. It’s adopting Material Design 3 UI elements and adding chat filters. The top app bar is also seeing a few changes, including a white background.
Spotted by reliable WhatsApp insiders at WABetaInfo, the planned interface redesign of the popular Meta-owned messaging app adds four self-explanatory chat filters to the top of the chat list: All, Unread, Personal, and Business. The All section will show all your chats like you see today. If you want to quickly check all your unread messages, you can switch to Unread. Likewise, the Personal and Business sections will filter chats based on account type.
Additionally, WhatsApp has redesigned the top bar to add an extra menu button to the right, next to your profile avatar. The background color of this space, as well as the top status bar, has also been changed from green to white (everything appears black when dark mode is turned on, so this change only applies to light mode). With this change, the WhatsApp logo on the app bar switches its color from white to green.
WhatsApp has also updated the logo font and made it bolder. Chat titles (contact names or group names) also appear a little bolder in the screenshot shared by the publication. The report says the company has frequently updated some of these design overhauls, so what we are seeing today may not be the final design.
This WhatsApp interface redesign is still under development
WhatsApp was first spotted working on this redesign in June. The same source found the new interface within WhatsApp beta version 2.23.13.16 for Android. The changes weren’t available to users, but the company was laying the groundwork behind the scenes.
Over two months later, WhatsApp isn’t yet ready to roll out the redesigned interface to users, not even in the beta channel. The changes are still under development. However, WhatsApp beta version 2.23.18.18 for Android has proof that the development work has progressed significantly, with the company further refining the interface.
As the new report notes, a similar redesign is in development for the iOS version of WhatsApp as well. A beta rollout of the changes may not be too far off now. If you want to try out the latest WhatsApp updates early on your Android smartphone, you can sign up for beta here. Now proceed to update the app from the Google Play Store. You can click the button below to download the latest version of WhatsApp.
2023-09-02 15:05:51