WhatsApp Spotted Working on Themes for iOS App, Username PIN for Android
WhatsApp has been working on adding support for chat themes on more than one occasion, and a feature tracker has now given us a sneak peek at what the feature could look like when it launches. The messaging app is expected to let users change the color of chat bubbles and the background using preset themes, or choose their own color and background. The company was also spotted working on the ability to choose a username and set a PIN that would protect them from unknown users on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp Theme Chooser for iOS Spotted in Development
Earlier this month, feature tracker WABetaInfo discovered a new theme picker menu in development on an earlier beta build of WhatsApp for Android. While the picker didn’t include themes in that version, the WhatsApp beta for iOS 24.17. 10.71 update includes previews of some of these themes.
WhatsApp’s Theme Chooser on iOS
Photo credit: WABetaInfo
When the feature eventually rolls out, WhatsApp will offer users the following capabilities: 10 theme presets to choose from, according to the feature tracker. A couple of screenshots of the theme chooser in action show two horizontally scrolling rows of themes. The top row contains solid colored backgrounds, while the bottom row contains themes based on landscape art. All themes have chat bubble colors based on the color of the background.
It’s important to note that the theme chooser isn’t actually available to beta testers at the moment, as it’s still in development. So even if you’ve installed the latest beta version of WhatsApp for iOS via TestFlight, you’ll still have to wait until the feature is ready for testing. WABetaInfo claims that these themes are only seen by the user who applies them, unlike Instagram and Messenger, where the same theme is shown to all chat participants.
WhatsApp Username PIN Feature Appears in Recent Beta Version
WhatsApp has developed a username feature that would allow users to start new conversations without sharing their phone number, but that feature has yet to be released to beta testers. It appears that the company is now working on a feature that would protect users from unwanted contact after they set a username.
Username PIN selection on WhatsApp
Photo credit: WABetaInfo
According to WABetaInfo, the recently released WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24. 18.2 update contains details about an advanced Selection of “Username PIN”Users are reportedly seeing a prompt to set up a PIN after setting up a unique username on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp feature tracker claims that this feature will allow users to set a new passcode that they will need to share with others in order to start a new conversation using their newly set username. This would allow users to control who can send them messages and potentially prevent spammers and unwanted chats from reaching users.
Much like the theme chooser spotted on iOS, this WhatsApp username PIN feature is still in development, meaning it won’t be accessible even after downloading the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android. Both features will be rolled out to beta testers in the future, before being made available to users on the stable channel.
