WhatsApp Updates: New Wallpapers & Stickers

WhatsApp is significantly enhancing its customization options with a new update to wallpapers and stickers, providing aesthetic improvements for its extensive user base of over 2 billion people.

The messaging platform announced on Tuesday that users will now be able to establish unique wallpapers for individual chats, designed to help differentiate between numerous ongoing conversations. Users have the flexibility to assign as many custom wallpapers as they desire to different chats, according to the company.

“Personalize your conversations and easily identify them with custom wallpapers for your most frequent contacts and important chats, eliminating the risk of sending a message to the incorrect recipient,” stated the Facebook-owned service.

WhatsApp is also expanding the range of colors available for its doodle wallpaper – currently the default option – and broadening the wallpaper library with a greater variety of images showcasing global landscapes and architectural designs. Furthermore, the application now supports a separate wallpaper setting that automatically adjusts based on the user’s phone’s light or dark mode preference.

In addition to the wallpaper updates, the messaging application is streamlining the process of locating stickers by enabling users to search using text or emojis, and to browse through established categories.

The company is encouraging sticker designers to incorporate emoji tags into their creations to improve their discoverability for WhatsApp users. A representative from the company did not disclose data regarding sticker usage or the number of sticker creators contributing to the platform.

However, for those who enjoy using stickers, new options are becoming available. The World Health Organization’s “Together at Home” sticker collection is now offered in animated format. (The organizations initially partnered earlier this year to increase awareness regarding the coronavirus pandemic.)

“The ‘Together at Home’ collection has proven to be a highly popular sticker pack on WhatsApp and is now even more dynamic and versatile with its animated version. The ‘Together at Home’ sticker pack is accessible within WhatsApp, with text translated into 9 languages – Arabic, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish,” WhatsApp explained.