WhatsApp beta to update its search bar with a touch of Material You

In the past several weeks, WhatsApp has started to gradually push out features like Channels to its international user base while also finally acquiring a Wear OS app. Another piece of bad news was last week’s brief global outage of WhatsApp. WhatsApp has continued to add new features to the beta version of the app despite this setback, allowing a small group of users to test newly developed features before everyone else. A Material You-based search bar has recently been included in the messaging app’s beta edition.

Although a search bar already appears in several WhatsApp menus, including Chats, Status, Settings, and others, this new makeover replaces the boxy search box with a rounded one that adheres to Material Design 3. Over the past few months, a few of Google’s own apps have received Material You UI features, but it’s exciting to see a third-party service like WhatsApp finally adopting them, if a little belatedly.

According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.23.16.5, which is currently rolling out via the Google Play Store, has the new Material You search bar. Although the update is currently accessible to those signed up for the beta channel, the publication warns that not everyone will be able to see it just yet.

The three icons; Camera, Search, and the three-dot Settings icon, that are located at the upper right corner of the screen have changed colors, according to WABetaInfo Twitter account.

The traditional grey color has been replaced with a whiter shade in these icons. According to the Twitter account for WABetaInfo, this small cosmetic change was introduced to WhatsApp beta version 2.23.16.4. The website also notes that those users who have already used the new Material You search bar may also notice the altered icons.

The updated icon colors and the Material You-based search bar ought to eventually be available to all users on the stable channel. We do not, however, have an official ETA for its release to the general public just yet, as is typically the case with beta upgrades. The chat app, which is owned by Meta, has recently undergone several modifications, including new group chat symbols for accounts without profile images. It is also rumored that WhatsApp is developing a rival to Apple’s Memoji.