WhatsApp is working on a feature that will allow users to set a default theme, changing the colour of chat bubbles on the app on their smartphone. The new personalisation option could offer a selection of colour presets, and was spotted in development by a feature tracker on a recent beta version of the app for iPhone. The Meta-owned messaging app recently updated the colour scheme of its app for iOS users, adopting a green accent for various elements such as buttons and notification counters.
WhatsApp Default chat theme feature spotted
On the latest WhatsApp beta for iOS 24.11.10.70 that is rolling out to users via Apple’s TestFlight testing program, feature tracker WABetaInfo spotted a new Default chat theme feature that is currently in development. This means that the feature cannot be enabled at the moment, but should be available for beta testers to try out at a later date.
WhatsApp Default chat theme feature: How it works
According to a screenshot shared by the feature tracker, WhatsApp is working on a new chat theme picker in the app, which will located in the settings menu. Users can choose from five options — the default green theme, as well as blue, grey, red, and purple.
WhatsApp’s new default chat theme picker on iOS
Photo Credit: WABetaInfo
The leaked image also contains a snippet of text that informs the user that picking one of the chaat themes will set the colour and wallpaper — with the corresponding themed WhatsApp doodle background — for chats on their phone.
Unlike Instagram, setting the chat theme will only apply to the same phone. This means that the Default chat theme setting will not modify the theme in a chat for both users — unlike Instagram, which allows users to theme conversations on a per-chat basis.
This new chat theme picker is expected to roll out to beta testers on iOS in the future, before it arrives on the stable channel. As most features are shared across WhatsApp for iOS and Android, we can also expect this feature to arrive on the Android version of the app in the future.