WhatsApp is testing a new approach to sticker discovery on iOS that could make conversations feel more fluid by reducing the need to manually browse sticker packs. The feature, now appearing in the latest TestFlight beta build, introduces emoji-based sticker suggestions that surface directly as users type messages, rather than requiring them to open the sticker tray.
The functionality was first spotted by WABetaInfo and is included in WhatsApp beta version 26.1.10.72 for iOS, distributed through TestFlight. It mirrors a similar experiment that rolled out to Android beta users toward the end of last year, suggesting WhatsApp is working toward feature parity across platforms.
As currently implemented, the system operates alongside the message composer. When a user types an emoji that has stickers associated with it, WhatsApp displays a small sticker icon near the send button. Tapping that icon opens a compact results panel showing relevant stickers and GIFs tied to the emoji, without pulling the user out of the active chat. An option to expand the results allows users to browse additional suggestions while staying within the same conversation view.
The relevance of these suggestions depends heavily on metadata. According to WABetaInfo, stickers become eligible for surfacing only if they include predefined emoji associations added during the creation process. In other words, the feature does not rely on AI-driven interpretation of message context, but instead on explicit tagging done by sticker creators. This design choice appears aimed at keeping suggestions predictable and reducing irrelevant results, particularly for users who have accumulated large numbers of sticker packs over time.
Several third-party sticker creation apps on iOS already support assigning multiple emojis to a single sticker, which increases the likelihood that a sticker will appear when a matching emoji is typed. This gives independent creators and pack publishers an incentive to be more deliberate with emoji tagging, as better metadata directly improves discoverability.
One notable limitation in the current beta is that stickers created using WhatsApp’s own built-in sticker editor do not seem to support emoji associations yet. As a result, those stickers are excluded from suggestions for now. This gap may be temporary, as WhatsApp could update its native tools before the feature reaches a stable release.
While the change is relatively small in scope, it reflects WhatsApp’s broader effort to streamline expressive features without overloading the interface. If the test proves successful, emoji-based sticker suggestions could become a subtle but meaningful improvement to everyday messaging on iOS.
