WhatsApp adds new ways to personalize your chats
Android beta brings five theme categories, animated wallpapers, and automatic bubble colours
Tired of the same old WhatsApp wallpaper? Android users are finally catching up to what iPhone owners have had for a while: a proper set of themes and wallpapers built to make chats feel less generic.
The addition of five chat theme categories was first introduced in WhatsApp with iOS version 26.33.73. It has been noted that the same functionality is being brought to WhatsApp for Android with version 2.26.37.6 available on the Google Play Store.
Featured takes the best designs from all the other categories in one place. Nature showcases natural backgrounds such as deserts, forests, mountains, and beaches.
Live features animated wallpapers that animate slowly in the background while minimal uses a plain interface. Doodle features the same design pattern wallpapers that have been used in the default wallpaper of WhatsApp.
However, users do not need to install the whole theme in order to change the background image of their choice. In WhatsApp, there will be wallpapers separated into independent categories, including two new ones: Vibrant wallpapers with bold colours and gradient wallpapers with stylish colour combinations.
If none of these options suits users' preferences, then they can choose an image from the gallery or create one using AI technology.
The animated live wallpapers are designed to be discreet. WhatsApp has purposefully made the animation slow because fast animation might impair readability or raise access barriers.
There is a tiny badge placed on each Live wallpaper's thumbnail, hence making it easier to identify the animated wallpapers before making any selection.
Whichever theme or wallpaper that one chooses, WhatsApp automatically chooses a suitable bubble colour to make the text readable. However, people have the option of overriding the automatic setting.
