WhatsApp does not stop this month which is coming to an end soon: this month of March tested a long list of functions and visual innovations to improve the design of the application: the radar of nearby devices, a new status editor, the transcription of voice audios, a new security icon, improved chat blocking, filters to distinguish individual chats from group chats, pin up to five chats in the top area or its tool to create stickers.
But if there is one that is already official, it is one of the most awaited by those of us who use the messaging application and to which WhatsApp has dedicated months and months, it is the new navigation bar design. And we say months because this feature has been showing its paw for almost a year, obtaining a much more minimalist aesthetic that recalls its interface in iOS, that is to say with the logo in green and everything else in white.
One year later, the new WhatsApp bar is now a reality
At Xataka Android we let you know months in advance about upcoming changes because we echo what we see in the betas thanks to WABetaInfo, the team that first detected it ago about a year, with the aim of follow Google Material Design guidelines. But WhatsApp backtracked to revisit it several times last summer. But this week, the change finally took hold, since even Meta spoke about it on his X/Twitter profile.
Click to access the WhatsApp post in X
As you can see in the before and after of the main interface of WhatsApp for Android, the new tab bar is fixed at the bottom of the screen and has four tabs of equal size and white background: Chats, News (States), Communities and Callsan evolution of the previous tab bar, with a smaller tab for communities and larger tabs for chats, news and calls.
WhatsApp explains that this new bottom bar design not only looks more minimalist and balanced according to Material Design patterns, but it is also closer to the thumbs, so It is easier to reach and therefore more ergonomic. It’s also easier to tap and swipe sideways to switch tabs.
But the changes don’t stop there: WABetaInfo recently discovered that WhatsApp is working on a new suggested contacts section in the Chats tab (version 2.24.7.23) just below the chats we have open, so in practice they will be far from visible… unless you are just starting out with the app, at which point it may be interesting for you to add more people. However, since this is a test, its final implementation might vary or never appear.
Cover | Photo by Dima Solomin on Unsplash and Smartmockups
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