WhatsApp is giving its iPad app another desktop-inspired makeover, replacing the familiar bottom navigation bar with a sidebar that makes considerably better use of the tablet’s larger display.
The redesigned navigation is beginning to appear for some iPad users, including people running the latest TestFlight beta and, notably, a limited number using the standard App Store release. Availability remains inconsistent, suggesting WhatsApp is handling this as a gradual rollout rather than flipping the switch for everyone at once.
The biggest change is the arrival of a sidebar similar to the one already used by WhatsApp on Mac. Instead of reaching for tabs along the bottom of the screen, users can jump between Chats, Updates, Communities, Calls and Meta AI from a persistent navigation column.
It sounds like a relatively minor interface adjustment, but it addresses one of the recurring problems with apps moving from phones to tablets: simply stretching a smartphone interface across a much larger display rarely produces the best experience. An iPad has enough horizontal space to keep navigation visible alongside a chat list and an active conversation, particularly when the device is being used in landscape orientation.
WhatsApp is also allowing users to hide the sidebar. Doing so gives the chat list and conversation area more room, providing a useful compromise for people who would rather dedicate as much screen space as possible to messages. The approach makes the iPad version behave more like a desktop messaging client without forcing that layout on everyone.
The sidebar follows earlier work on WhatsApp’s iPad design. The company began testing Apple’s Liquid Glass-inspired interface on the tablet earlier this year, introducing updated visual elements including tabs, buttons and contextual menus. That version, however, retained the bottom navigation bar inherited from the iPhone experience. The latest change goes further by reconsidering how users actually move around the app on a larger screen.
That distinction matters because WhatsApp’s dedicated iPad experience itself arrived relatively late compared with the platform’s enormous presence on smartphones and desktops. Making the tablet app feel deliberately designed for the hardware, rather than simply adapted from iOS, is arguably more important than cosmetic changes.
There is also a broader consistency benefit. People who regularly switch between WhatsApp on a Mac and an iPad should find the navigation more familiar, reducing the interface differences between the two larger-screen versions.
There is no confirmed date for when every iPad user will receive the redesigned WhatsApp interface. Its appearance outside the beta programme indicates testing has expanded, but WhatsApp frequently deploys interface changes gradually. For now, two people running apparently identical versions of the app may still see different layouts.
The more interesting question is whether this sidebar represents the final direction for WhatsApp on iPad or another stage in an ongoing redesign. Either way, treating the iPad as a large-screen device rather than an oversized iPhone is a sensible move.
