Your WhatsApp Profile Is Getting A Facebook-Style Makeover: What's Changing

If you have a Facebook account, you probably know how cover photos let you personalise your profile with a banner image. WhatsApp is now reportedly bringing a similar feature to personal accounts, allowing users to add a landscape photo above their profile picture. The feature is currently rolling out to some Android beta testers, giving users another way to customise their WhatsApp profiles.

WhatsApp Is Bringing Facebook-Style Cover Photos To Personal Profiles

As per a WA Beta Info report, WhatsApp is introducing profile cover photos for personal accounts with the Android beta update 2.26.43.11, available through the Google Play Store. The feature was previously available to WhatsApp Business accounts, where businesses could use a banner image to personalise their profile pages.

With this update, regular users can also add a cover photo without switching to a business account. The feature is currently rolling out to some beta testers, and WhatsApp is expected to make it available to more users over the coming weeks.

The cover photo will appear as a landscape banner at the top of a user's profile page. It will sit above the existing profile picture, which means users can keep both images instead of having to replace their current display photo.

The banner will also appear at the top of the app's settings page. If a user has not selected a cover photo, WhatsApp will display a default image until they choose one.

How To Set A Cover Photo On WhatsApp

Setting up a cover photo is quite easy. Users need to head to their profile page and tap the Edit button to access the option.

WhatsApp will then let users take a new photo, select an image from their gallery, or generate one using Meta AI. Once an image is selected, the app will automatically crop it to fit the landscape format.

This should make it easier to use existing photos without having to manually resize them. However, the final appearance will depend on how the image is cropped to fit the banner.

WhatsApp Will Let You Control Who Sees Your Cover Photo

As with profile pictures and other personal details, WhatsApp is also giving users control over who can view their cover photos.

The new privacy settings offer four options: Everyone, My contacts, My contacts except, and Nobody. The default setting is Everyone, which means anyone can view the cover photo.

Users can choose My contacts to limit visibility to people saved in their address book. The My contacts except option lets them exclude specific people, while Nobody hides the cover photo from everyone without requiring users to delete it.

The cover photo will also appear on the chat info screen when someone opens a conversation. It will be displayed above the profile picture, name, and phone number. However, WhatsApp will hide it if the user's privacy settings do not allow that person to view it.