Blog

WhatsApp, the Meta-owned instant messaging application, is reportedly planning to release a feature that allows users to swipe between tabs and rounded menus. The feature is available to some beta testers that install the latest WhatsApp beta for Android update from the Google Play Store.

“After installing the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.13.9 update from the Google Play Store, we discovered that WhatsApp is rolling out the ability to swipe between tabs to some lucky beta testers,” WABetaInfo reported.

As per the screenshot shared by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp has added a feature that allows users to switch to a different tab by using the usual gesture. The introduction of this feature is likely a response to extensive user feedback.

“While there have been a lot of requests in the past to implement a bottom navigation bar following the guidelines of Material Design 3, several users expressed dissatisfaction when they realised that swiping between tabs was no longer possible,” the report said.

WABetaInfo said that the feature was removed as it did not align with the guidelines of Material Design 3. However, it appears that WhatsApp has made an exception to this rule in order to cater to user preferences and enhance their experience by implementing this feature again.

In addition, after installing this update, some users may finally experiment with rounded menus. The feature that provides users with the ability to swipe between tabs and rounded menus are available to some lucky beta testers that install the latest WhatsApp beta for Android update from the Google Play Store, and they are rolling out to even more people over the coming weeks.

In related news, the instant messaging platform has also introduced a new feature that provides users with an improved media picker with numbered thumbnails.

This enhancement allows users to easily track the order of selected media items, and it is available to some beta testers that installed the latest update of WhatsApp beta for Android from the Google Play Store.