WhatsApp has started rolling out a change to the app’s interface on Android, making it much easier to use the popular chat application with one hand. The company first introduced a tabbed design to beta testers of its Android app earlier this year (the iOS version of the app already has tabs at the bottom), and the tweaked interface is now rolling out to users on the stable update channel. WhatsApp also recently started testing a redesigned interface for iOS and Android with new colors and accents on the beta version of the app.
After updating to WhatsApp for Android 2.23.20.76 via the Google Play Store, the new bottom-tab interface rolled out to multiple Gadgets 360 employees on Monday, while many others can still see the original top navigation bar that lets you switch between the Chats, To call, And Status tabs, along with a smaller tab with the Communities icon on the left. WhatsApp first introduced the moved tab to beta testers in May.
WhatsApp’s new tabbed interface appears to be slowly rolling out to all users
Photo credit: Screenshot/Gadgets 360
WhatsApp’s bottom tab interface contains four tabs: Chats, Updates, CommunitiesAnd To call to action. These tabs also contain icons; these were previously unavailable when the tabs were at the top of the screen. The most notable improvement of the new navigation system is that users can now easily switch to different tabs while using the phone with one hand.
However, the latest update, which adds the bottom tab interface, also prevents users from swiping across tabs. The older design with tabs at the top of the interface allowed users to slide their finger across the chat list to the tab they wanted to switch to. . With the bottom tab interface, it appears that users will have to tap to switch tabs instead of swiping.
Last week, WhatsApp started rolling out other subtle interface changes to users on the beta channel. Gadgets 360 was able to confirm that the iconic green bar at the top of the app on Android has been removed in favor of an all-white interface when in light mode, which makes the entire app look dark gray when dark mode is enabled.
WhatsApp also tweaked some color accents in the recent Android beta, making the green colors a little brighter and more vibrant, especially when dark mode is enabled. The app’s ‘solid’ icons have recently been replaced with ‘outline’ icons for voice and video calls within individual chats, as well as the camera icon in the main chat list.