WhatsApp makes new design change to app

WhatsApp has made a change to its app by introducing an iMessage-style typing icon
WhatsApp has made a change to its app by introducing an iMessage-style typing icon - Yui Mok/PA

WhatsApp has made another change to its app by introducing an iMessage-style typing icon.

The internet messaging app, used by many as an alternative to texting, now shows some users a speech bubble when their contacts are writing out a message.

The feature replaces the “typing…” message that has appeared at the top of the screen under a contact’s name ever since the app was created in 2009.

The change, which is yet to be rolled out across all devices, comes six months after Meta, which owns WhatsApp, was forced to backtrack on capitalising “Online” and “Typing…” status updates on the app.

“This was just a small test, but it’s going back to normal now,” a spokesman said at the time.

A similar typing speech bubble is used on Apple’s online messaging service, iMessage, as well as other Meta apps, including Facebook Messenger and Instagram.

In 2023, WhatsApp – which also allows users to make audio and video calls to others – had 2.8 billion users who were active every month.

Video still a key part

Other Meta apps have persevered with design changes despite an initial backlash.

In 2006, when Facebook only had a few million users, it launched the now ubiquitous News Feed, which included a stream of updates from a person’s friends.

The change led to immediate uproar and threats to boycott the site over privacy concerns.

But owner Mark Zuckerberg held out and it has remained a major feature ever since.

In 2022, following competition from TikTok, Meta added more videos to Instagram and changed its algorithm to place them more prominently on users’ feeds.

The alterations led to social media stars including Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian threatening to quit the app.

But video has since remained a key part of it.

iMessage more popular among Gen Z

Tech giants usually press ahead with changes if they believe they are what users want, based on data gathered from testing.

Meta was approached for comment.

Apple’s iMessage is more popular among Gen Z and Gen Alpha than WhatsApp, research suggests.

The dominance of iMessage among young Americans is so strong that 2023 data from Attain, an Adtech data platform, found younger consumers fear being socially ostracised for not having an iPhone.

WhatsApp is particularly popular in non-Western countries. In Brazil, 99.9 per cent of people who use online messaging platforms are on WhatsApp. In India, the figure stands at 97.1 per cent, and in Indonesia, it is 86.4 per cent.

By contrast, in Britain and the United States, respectively, just 71.3 per cent and 41.2 per cent of those who use online messaging platforms use WhatsApp.