WhatsApp's Upcoming Customization Feature

WhatsApp is gearing up to offer users more customization options to personalize their chats, heralding significant changes in the app's UI environment. Until now, WhatsApp has been somewhat behind its Meta peers like Instagram and Messenger regarding theming and customization flexibility, despite introducing numerous features such as Communities and increased attachment file size limits. Recent reports and beta tests have hinted at the impending rollout of customizable themes, enabling users to go beyond simple light or dark modes and custom chat backgrounds.

The first solid insights into these new features have emerged, courtesy of WABetaInfo, which revealed that beta version 2.24.20.12 includes significant developments. Screenshots from the beta show a new settings page named "Chat Theme," where users can select the colors for message bubbles and chat backgrounds from an array of preset themes. Notably, each preset theme features unique wallpaper, although users can override these with custom images, similar to existing functionalities.

There are intriguing implications for these new settings: a brightness slider, particularly for dark mode versions, hints at additional layers of customization. While the initial option seems to standardize a theme across all chats, features akin to Instagram’s individual chat theming might also arrive in future updates. These personal themes will strictly be visible to the user, with other chat participants seeing their own selected themes.

WhatsApp’s prudent approach to new feature rollouts stems from the app's colossal user base of over two billion, with even minor updates having substantial global ramifications. Nonetheless, the sneak peeks recently garnered suggest this significant theming enhancement is on the horizon, promising users a higher degree of personalization soon.

Earlier, SSP wrote how to choose the right soundbar.