We first learned about WhatsApp’s big plans to redesign the Android app about a year ago. The new user interface appeared in beta versions of the app, with a significant change that made it look more like its iPhone counterpart. More precisely, WhatsApp has moved the navigation bar to the bottom of the screen, where you will find it on the iPhone.
However, WhatsApp didn’t actually go ahead with the design change, opting to continue testing. The Android redesign reappeared in beta tests, but did not make it to the stable release. Fast forward to the end of March and WhatsApp is finally ready for a change. The navigation bar goes to the bottom of the screen and you can’t do anything there.
As with any major OS or app redesign, change isn’t always welcome. Google Maps is a good recent example. Google gave its main navigation app a major redesign last year, changing the old color choices to ones that look more like Apple Maps on the iPhone.
The redesign saw a lot of backlash, but nobody could do anything about it. Google has introduced a new design to iPhone and Android users.
In contrast, the design changes in WhatsApp are not as significant as those in Google Maps. It only affects the navigation bar that has a new location. But it’s still a significant enough change that some users will likely struggle to adjust.
WhatsApp has announced a design update on X, saying it has “moved some things around to make it easier to access what you need when you need it.” The new navigation tools are “closer to your thumbs and easier on the eyes.” I suspect that the latter is a big reason why WhatsApp changed its design.
I’m a longtime iPhone user who used WhatsApp before Meta (then Facebook) bought the app. I’m already used to the navigation bar at the bottom and I think it’s the right placement, just as it’s easier to interact with the URL bar in the browser if it’s at the bottom of the screen.
I also think it’s in WhatsApp’s best interest to offer a unified design across all platforms. And the design of the iPhone is better than the now old Android user interface. You might like it now, but you’ll get used to it.
As for the tabs on the navigation bar, they are identical to the previous choices. You get access to chats, updates, communities and calls, just like before. They are in a different order and are better distributed than before. Updates replace Status, but the purpose remains the same.
In terms of design uniformity, the new navigation bar placement mirrors the iPhone, but the button order is different.
The only way to stop the change is to delay the update on WhatsApp. But it is only a temporary solution. Preventing updates means losing future features that might be more important than changing the user interface.
The latest version of WhatsApp for Android also brings a change to the screen sharing feature for video calls. In addition to the screen, you can also share the sound.