Overview
- WhatsApp began rolling the new chat‑theme experience to a limited set of Android beta testers in mid‑September, with the interface appearing in beta build 2.26.37.6.
- The update adds five named chat‑theme categories — Featured, Nature, Live, Minimal, and Doodle — and separates wallpapers into their own categories including Vibrant and Gradient.
- A Live category offers slow animated wallpapers marked with a small badge so users can tell which backgrounds move without creating distracting motion.
- WhatsApp now chooses a message bubble color automatically to keep text readable against a chosen theme or wallpaper while still letting users pick a different color manually.
- The rollout is gradual and unconfirmed for a wide release, and the company is also developing a future option to sync themes so conversation partners can share the same wallpaper and bubble color.