WhatsApp finally releases swipeable Navigation Bar

WhatsApp’s swipeable Navigation Bar is finally official.

For almost a year now, WhatsApp has been testing out an innovative menu bar style. The change, which was first noticed by beta testers, shows how dedicated the app is to adhering to Google's Material Design guidelines, according to WABetaInfo.

WhatsApp quickly undid the modification, though, and then brought it back in June and September of 2023. It has now reappeared, garnering notice as recently as last week.

The testing was conducted last week involved linked Android phones that were not previously impacted, in contrast to earlier tests that only affected particular handsets.

There are now four tabs available on the redesigned tab bar, which is located at the bottom of the screen: Chats, Updates, Communities, and Calls.

This is a change from the previous design, which had a larger tab for Chats, Status, and Calls and a smaller one for Communities.

WhatsApp claims that the redesigned bottom bar is positioned to make thumb access easier.

Additionally, it facilitates simple tab navigation via side swipes. Users are seeing the distribution of this feature across their devices after the app's Play Store changelog was appropriately updated.