WhatsApp is fixing a major annoyance with its new bottom navigation bar on Android, which is currently available to beta users. The latest update for the beta version of the app lets some users swipe left/right to switch between tabs. This feature is available with the original top navigation bar.
WhatsApp has been testing an iOS-like bottom navigation bar for its Android app for a couple of months now. After limited testing for a few weeks, the Meta-owned messaging app widely rolled out this redesign in the beta channel in mid-May. But it came with an annoying inconvenience. Users couldn’t swipe between tabs, a feature that they have been using for years. WhatsApp beta users on Android were forced to tap on the tab headers (Chats, Calls, Communities, and Status) in the bottom bar to switch between them. They couldn’t use swiping gestures.
After making those users put up with this inconvenience for about a month or so, WhatsApp is finally addressing the problem. The latest update for the beta app (version 2.23.13.9) enables gesture support for switching between tabs. If the change had already erased your muscle memory over the past month, this update will slowly bring it back. As pointed out by WABetaInfo, the ever-reliable source for WhatsApp-related information, the company may have introduced this feature following extensive user feedback. It’s a lot more convenient to just swipe through tabs rather than tap on the dedicated buttons.
This WhatsApp beta update brings more design changes
This may not be the only change brought by version 2.23.13.9 of WhatsApp beta for Android. Some users have also noticed rounded menus, a redesign that follows the Material Design 3 principles. The bottom navigation bar itself is a change that follows the new design principles. Material Design 3 discourages the use of swiping gestures, hence WhatsApp removed it initially. But the company brought it back in response to user feedback.
Unfortunately, neither change appears to be available widely at the moment. Only select lucky beta users have got one or both of them with version 2.23.13.9 of the app. We checked a few devices here at Android Headlines with WhatsApp beta installed but none of them had received either new feature. Hopefully, the company won’t take long to push the changes widely. It’s also testing several other new features, including numbered thumbnails for media selections, circular video messages, and redesigned emoji keyboard. All of these features should reach users globally over the next few months.