WhatsApp gives iPad app long-awaited sidebar

WhatsApp just gave iPad users something they've been asking for since the Mac app got its makeover: an actual sidebar, instead of a tab bar squeezed along the bottom of a screen built for more space.

This newly designed tab is on the left and covers tabs such as Chats, Updates, Communities, Calls, and Meta AI, while there is a "More" tab for the Locked, Archived, Starred, and Favourites tabs. This new design is completely made of Liquid Glass from iOS 26 onwards, and the tab can be easily hidden in just one tap, while the tab bar will come back on top again.

Elsewhere, WhatsApp is testing a way to let people without an account join a call. Hosts generate a link from the Calls tab, share it, and guests can open it with no sign-up required, though the host still has to approve every guest manually before they're let in.

That approval step isn't optional; it applies to every non-account participant, no exceptions.

The translucent, glass-like design that's been rolling out piece by piece is now hitting the full chat interface: the floating chat bar, the transparent navigation bar, message bubbles with rounder corners, and the reaction tray when you long-press a message.

Both WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business get the same treatment, so there's no split experience between personal and business accounts anymore.

As of September 8, WhatsApp has completely stopped working on Android 5.0 and 5.1, and the new minimum requirement is Android 6.0 Marshmallow. You won't be able to use WhatsApp on that device at all if it can't be updated beyond Lollipop.

There have been a couple of other minor updates for the week, including thumbnails in chat lists in iOS for the latest image, video, or sticker in the conversation, and Restricted Chat coming to Android to test.