WhatsApp’s Android app is heading for another visual refresh, and this time the change is about where your thumb lands. A floating bottom navigation bar has been spotted in WhatsApp beta version 2.26.38.10 for Android, according to beta tracker WABetaInfo. It replaces the flat, edge-to-edge tab strip with a detached bar that hovers slightly above the bottom of the screen.
Anyone who has used an iPhone recently will recognise the idea. Apple’s Liquid Glass redesign made floating tab bars a signature of iOS, and WhatsApp’s iPhone app already leans into that style. The Android version will not copy it outright, though. The new bar reportedly skips the translucent glass effect and sticks to Android design conventions instead, with versions adapted for both light and dark themes.
That approach makes sense. Google has been moving in a similar direction on its own with Material 3 Expressive, which added floating toolbars and more rounded, layered layouts to Android. A floating bar that follows Android’s visual rules is less of an iOS import and more WhatsApp keeping up with where both platforms are headed.
It also shows how quickly WhatsApp’s Android layout keeps changing. The app only moved its main tabs from the top of the screen to the bottom three years ago, following years of complaints that the old layout was hard to reach on tall phones. Moving the bar again so soon suggests Meta sees navigation as something to keep refining, not something it solved in 2023.
The Android app has been getting a steady stream of updates lately, including customisable chat themes. Many Android users have long felt they get new features and design polish later than iPhone users, and changes like this help narrow that gap, even if they are largely cosmetic.
There is no rush for anyone to update, however. The floating bar is still in development and hasn’t reached beta testers yet, so the only evidence so far is an early look at unfinished work. WhatsApp hasn’t confirmed a release window, and the design could change before it ships, or be dropped entirely, as sometimes happens with features found in beta builds.
For an app with billions of users, even a small layout change affects daily habits, from muscle memory to one-handed use on large screens. The bigger question is whether a floating bar gives Android users a real usability improvement or just a more fashionable look, and that won’t be clear until people use it in practice.
