WhatsApp is where a large part of the world communicates with one another, regardless of thesmartphone they use. This means the developers have to ensure that any new feature addition makes it to both of the dominant mobile platforms —Android and iOS. In the past, we’ve mostly seen under-development features making it to Android first, with iOS following some days or weeks later. But there can be exceptions sometimes, and we’ve just encountered one.
A recent version of WhatsApp beta for iOS (v24.1.10.70) carries the ability to change the “branding color” of the chat app, which is set to blue by default on the stable version of WhatsApp for iOS. Based on the screenshot provided byWABetaInfo, people could soon have the choice between five colors, including green, white, pink, purple, and the aforementioned default shade.
As the publication rightly mentions, WhatsApp has been testing a green branding color for both Android and iOS beta versions since at least October 2023. This made sense, given that it is the predominant color in WhatsApp’s icon and logo. It now seems like WhatsApp developers want to provide more options to let users further customize how the app looks.
WhatsApp already lets users of both Android and iOS customize the appearance of their conversations via wallpapers. However, there was never a way to change the color of the app’s overall theme, including UI elements like the unread message count next to the contact’s name.
Since both Android and iOS versions of WhatsApp share a bulk of the visual and functionality-related attributes, we expect these changes to eventually make it to the beta channel on Android. But we don’t have an ETA on that just yet. Instead of limiting the theming options to just five colors, perhaps WhatsApp could consider offering a color wheel that will let users choose the shade that suits their preferences.
WABetaInfo further found that the same version of the app also talks about letting users change the color of the chat bubbles, which currently alternates between light and dark green depending on the user’s display preferences. This would be a welcome change for WhatsApp and a feature that I am more excited about than the ability to change the color of certain UI elements.
As is usually the case with beta features, there’s never a guarantee that these color-changing options will make it to the stable version of WhatsApp. The source mentions that these changes may not be ready for all beta testers yet, so it could be some time before they make it to the stable version of the Meta-owned chat app. As always, we will keep an ear to the ground for any traction on this front.
