Latest WhatsApp Android beta gets adaptive icons support

WhatsApp is coming up with new features as a part of its beta versions for Android. The latest one to be rolled out to the beta users has the version number 2.18.74. It seems to have brought the support for adaptive launcher icons. It is meant for the beta users who have opted to become beta testers of the app and not available for all Android users.

The adaptive icons support was one of the highly requested features for a long time on Android. It will apply a circle, teardrop, square, squircle or oval mask as per the other icons on your device to ensure a consistent and seamless look, reports Android Police.

One of the requirements to get the adaptive icons support on WhatsApp is to be a beta tester of WhatsApp. The other requirement is that you need to use a launcher with support for adaptive icons to take advantage of this new feature. There are Android launchers such as Action Launcher, Lawnchair, Nova Launcher, Smart Launcher 5, etc. those allow you to customize the adaptive icons as per your preference. If you use a Nexus or Pixel device, then you can change the app icons just by heading to the stock launcher settings on the device.

Before you get too excited that WhatsApp is finally changing its icon design, you need to know that the company is just changing the icon design. It is still sticking on to the same old green colored icon. You can just change the shape of the icon from any of the above-mentioned options as you can see in the image to suit the appearance of the other icons in the interface.

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As of now, there is no clarity if this adaptive icons support will be rolled out to the users of the stable version of WhatsApp for Android. Currently, it is limited only to the beta users. The beta users are getting several new features such as group video calls capability, WhatsApp Stickers Store, Notification Channels, Forwarded Message feature and a lot more.