Is WhatsApp's new navigation bar better without labels?

Open WhatsApp and look at the bottom of your screen. Four tabs, each with a small word under its icon. Now picture those words gone. That is what WhatsApp is testing right now with its navigation bar.

The change appears in the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.26.39.10, available on the Google Play Store. Each of the four tabs is now just an icon. Nothing sits underneath.

Both the light and dark versions keep the floating shape and rounded corners from the previous design. WhatsApp also trimmed the padding between the bar and the screen edges, so the bar stretches wider than before.

You haven't seen the first version yet either. It surfaced only last week in beta 2.26.38.10, and it separates the bar from the main interface. The rounded corners push the look closer to the tab bar on WhatsApp's iOS app.

This new variation changes only what sits inside that shape. The speed matters here. A few days passed between the two builds, which suggests WhatsApp is trying several layouts at once rather than polishing one.

Labels exist for a reason: they help new users work out what each tab does. If you've used WhatsApp for years, though, you probably stopped reading it long ago.

Without the text, the bar looks lighter and less cluttered. The trade-off falls on anyone who still leans on the words to find their way around.

Will the new WhatsApp design reach your phone?

Not yet. The redesign is still in development and isn't available even to beta testers. WhatsApp hasn't given a release date.

Don't treat this as the final look, either. The labels could return before the public rollout.