SOON you may notice something a bit different about other people’s profile pictures on WhatsApp.
That’s because the popular messaging app is working on a huge new update that will allow you to have an avatar there instead.
1
Users will be able to create their own cartoon character avatars.
These can be used as stickers in chats but also to replace your profile photo.
It’s pretty much like the avatars we’ve already seen on Facebook.
Which is no surprise, seeing as they’re both owned by the same company, Meta.
Mark Zuckerberg has been integrating similar features across from his various apps for sometime now – which also includes Instagram don’t forget.
WABetaInfo shared a leaked screenshot of the new avatar update from iOS.
“As you can see in this screenshot, you can open WhatsApp Settings to quickly discover if the feature is enabled for your WhatsApp account: in case the feature is available for your account, you can start setting up an avatar today,” the site says.
“After setting up your avatar, you can start sending stickers by using your configuration and you can also choose an avatar to use as a profile photo.”
Most read in Tech
This doesn’t mean normal photo profiles will be replaced completely – apparently avatars are completely optional.
Beta testers have been trying out the new feature.
As always with early developments, there’s no guarantee WhatsApp will go ahead with it.
So we’ll have to wait and see until a full public update is made available before getting too excited about avatars coming.
If you want to try all of the latest WhatsApp features first, follow our guide on how to join the beta below.
How to get WhatsApp beta
To download WhatsApp beta for your smartphone you need to go to Google Play on your Android and search for WhatsApp.
Scroll down the page until you see “Become a Beta Tester”.
Tap the “I’m In” button and then click “Join” to confirm.
Now all you have to do is wait for the update to the beta version of the app.
Joining the WhatsApp beta on iOS for iPhone is more difficult, and has limited capacity.
Follow Apple’s guide here.
Latest tips and tricks for social media apps
Social media apps like Facebook, TikTok and WhatsApp have become vastly popular – but are always hiding new features or leading viral trends. So here are some of the best things to know…
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at [email protected]
This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
