As one of the world’s most usedchat applications, WhatsApp is constantly working on improving the app with new functionality. However, some new features tend to clash with existing ones, as illustrated by theintroduction ofChannels, which is now housed alongside ephemeralStatusupdates in a dedicatedUpdatestab. In its current form, posting a status update from this tab requires users to tap either of the two floating action buttons (FABs) on the bottom right of the screen. But an upcoming redesign could make things more streamlined, as revealed by the app’s latest beta update for Android.
WhatsApp beta for Android version2.23.26.13reveals two new icons right next to the Status header. This effectively renders the floating buttons useless, and they have been removed altogether.WABetaInfonotes that WhatsApp could also be testing another redesign wherein the pencil and camera icons could be positioned inside the three-dot menu in the top right corner.
The current iteration of WhatsApp with FABs (left); The under-development version with buttons next to the Status header (right)
There’s definitely some value in making some of these essential buttons easier to access. For people who post a ton of Status updates every day, having these buttons more toward the top of the screen seems logical. But since WhatsApp also appears to be experimenting with other ways to access the photo and text/voice buttons for Status updates, it’s not clear if this version will ever make it to the stable version.
In my personal experience, the two FABs at the bottom of the screen were a little tricky to access at times, with several instances of my fingers accidentally tapping the channel in the background. So placing the buttons elsewhere would avoid that issue.
The change isn’t currently visible on myAndroid smartphonedespite downloading version2.23.26.13 of the app, but WABetaInfo mentions that it will roll out more widely to beta testers in the days ahead. The publication adds that some on the previous 2.23.26.12 release of WhatsApp beta for Android may be lucky enough to find the repositioned buttons.
While this would be more of a minor UI tweak, WhatsApp recently introduced functionality that many thought was already present, such aspinning individual messages within chats. However, even this implementation wasn’t perfect, with WhatsApp currently letting users pin just one message at a time. Thankfully, another piece of reporting by WABetaInfo revealed that the chat app was beta testing the ability to pin multiple messages within chats.
