WhatsApp is testing a new camera interface on iPhone

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Whatsapp Message Hero
Whatsapp Message Hero (Image credit: Luke Filipowicz / iMore)

What you need to know

  • WhatsApp is testing a change to its camera interface on iPhone.
  • The banner displaying recent photos has been removed.
  • There is no indication of when the change will come to the App Store version of WhatsApp.

Popular instant messaging app WhatsApp is testing a change to its camera interface that will impact iPhone users.

According to recent changes in a WhatsApp build made available to beta testers and seen by WABetaInfo, the way people will use the instant messager's camera will change in a future release once it's made available in the App Store.

The change will see the previous banner displaying recent photos removed entirely, leaving people to tap a button to see all of the photos in their camera roll.

Whatsapp Camera Interface Screenshots

Whatsapp Camera Interface Screenshots (Image credit: WABetaInfo)

As you can see in this screenshot, they have redesigned the switch camera icon. In addition, you can notice that there was a horizontal bar with your recent pictures in your gallery, at the bottom of the screen: the horizontal media bar has been now replaced with a new button that directly opens your gallery.

While not a huge change, the removal of the banner will mean that those selecting recent images to send to friends and family will now need to work harder to do so.

WhatsApp is one of the best iPhone apps for people who need to send messages to people who don't have access to iMessage — particularly those who use Android devices. There is no telling when — or even if — this change will come to the version of WhatsApp that we are all using.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.