EAGLE-EYED WhatsApp users may have noticed the app’s new shade of green in recent weeks following a redesign from Meta.
However, the seemingly small change caused an uproar among users, who called the green makeover “ugly”.
While the Meta-owned instant messenger has traditionally not offered much in the way of customization, WhatsApp is reportedly throwing users a bone after backlash.
In the latest, unreleased version of WhatsApp for iOS, beta testers at WABetaInfo have found new chat theme colors that allow users to opt out of the new shade of green.
Users can choose between blue, white, pink and purple color themes.
Themes determine the color of chat bubbles and wallpaper.
Although WhatsApp is also developing a new option to control the app’s highlight color, according to the report.
Upon release, iOS users will be able to change the in-app button color from green to one of four other colors.
The customization feature is still under development and is therefore in an unreleased version of the iPhone app.
If Meta rolls out the new feature, iPhone owners will be able to customize the color of their chat bubbles and wallpaper.
This feature has not yet appeared on Android.
The application in its current form does not allow users to make any color changes.
It’s important to note that Meta may cancel the feature before rolling it out worldwide.
And even if the Meta is interested in a new addition, it could take months for it to be released.
It’s a human psyche thing, not an app problem
Millie Turner, Technology and Science Correspondent
As one of the most used social media apps in the world, WhatsApp definitely needed to do more in terms of customization.
Every few years or so, apps go under the knife for a facelift, often changing shades of color themes, fonts, and layouts.
Then a faceless manager comes up with a statement about how “current” the change is and how it was “designed with the user in mind.”
But apps and the people behind them need to realize one simple fact: people don’t like change.
We all know the feeling: you open up an app you use every day, and that disgusted, frustrated feeling washes over you as your muscle memory trips you over the new layout.
Whether it’s a Facebook redesign that simply looks “rough” or a change to Twitter (now X) that literally gives its users a headache, people like what they know.
Human psychology plays a big role in this.
And it is clearly unreasonable to expect the application to disappear into the vestiges of the past.
So what is the cure? Time – time for people to get used to the new arrangement, time to adjust routines and time to forget how it was before.
Inside the will
WhatsApp users first noticed the color change in April.
Meta sometimes offers features to a handful of users as a sort of “patch test”.
“The new WhatsApp interface is not vibration at all, from blue to green. How? Why?” one person wrote on X.
“WhatsApp if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” said another.
“Phew, new green color and sentence leads!”
Many were hoping the company would reverse the feature, but instead the company just doubled down on the change.
In a statement at the time, Meta said: “We’ve made several changes to the look and feel of WhatsApp, including spacing, colors, icons and more.
“These changes bring a modern, new experience to WhatsApp, making it more accessible and easy to use.”
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