WhatsApp is hard at work on a truckload of new features for unfathomably-popular chat app. And luckily for us, the clever team at @WABetaInfo has been trawling through the latest beta releases to unearth hints about new features in the works for the two billion people worldwide who use WhatsApp to keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues.
The latest beta version on iPhone hints that WhatsApp is working to add the ability to individually customise each conversation or group chat within the app.
That means you’ll be able to add a different background image for every conversation within the app. As it stands, WhatsApp lets you change the background from the default wallpaper – but whatever you pick will be applied to every chat in the app. The Facebook-owned messaging service lets you choose between 39 wallpaper designs, as well as 36 solid colours, or any of your own images stored on your smartphone.
That’s plenty of customisation… but you’ll need to pick something that suits every chat.
With the latest feature, WhatsApp users will be able to use an embarrassing photo from a debauched night out in a Stag Do group chat, a solid colour in a more reserved book club chat, and a jazzy wallpaper when talking one-on-one with your sibling.
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Another new customisation feature available to test in the same beta suggests WhatsApp will allow app users to adjust the brightness of their wallpaper separately from your smartphone display. That means you’ll be able to reduce bright colours so they don’t over-power the small green chat bubbles (traditionally, the most important parts of any chat app window – jazzy background, or no jazzy background).
According to the prolific team at @WABetaInfo, “This is a big move from WhatsApp, that never allowed to customise specific chats. We hope to see more similar features in future, for example the possibility to choose different auto-download settings in different chats.”
As always, WhatsApp trials and tests a vast number of features every week. Unfortunately, not all of them make their way to the two billion users worldwide. So, there’s no guarantee we’ll all be tweaking the wallpapers of each chat in the coming months. But fingers crossed, eh?
The news comes as the Android version of WhatsApp could finally benefit from a supercharged search function that debuted on the iPhone earlier this year. The upgraded search now includes shortcuts to different file types and contacts to drill-down on exactly what you’re looking for. Not only that, but you’ll also be able to immediately jump to a specific day in history to see your messages.
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