WhatsApp is testing a way to make stickers play sound. Recent Android beta builds include stickers that carry short audio clips, along with a new option to remove the white outline around custom stickers and a redesigned message box. None of it has been officially announced, and the features had to be manually enabled in test builds to be seen, so this is an early look rather than a confirmed rollout.
The sound stickers build on WhatsApp’s existing tool for turning your own photos and videos into stickers. For a sticker made from a still image, a sound-wave icon lets you record your voice or attach an existing audio file, with clips capped at 10 seconds. Stickers made from video clips automatically keep five seconds of the original audio, which can be swapped for a recording or a different file. Importantly, the audio doesn’t autoplay. Recipients have to tap a volume icon to hear it, which should save anyone sitting in a quiet meeting when a group chat starts sending them.
The idea isn’t new. LINE has sold sound-enabled stickers for years, and Telegram has made animated and video stickers a big part of its appeal. WhatsApp, with more than two billion users and many of the world’s busiest family and friend group chats, has generally added sticker features later and more cautiously than its rivals. Letting users add their own audio fits WhatsApp’s recent push toward user-made content rather than sticker packs bought from a store.
The more useful change may be the compose box. Currently the text field shares a single row with the emoji, attachment and camera buttons, so longer messages feel cramped. The test design splits it into two lines, with the text field on top and the controls in a strip below. That gives typed messages more space and leaves room for more shortcuts. WhatsApp hasn’t said why it is making the change, but a layout with spare space usually suggests more buttons are planned, and with Meta AI already built into the app, an AI shortcut seems a likely candidate.
A few things are still unclear. It isn’t known whether sound stickers will work on iOS, WhatsApp Web and the desktop apps from the start, or whether people on older app versions will just see a silent image. It also isn’t clear whether the stickers will add noticeably to chat storage, which is already a problem for many people’s phones.
Like many WhatsApp beta features, these could change, be delayed or be dropped before reaching the stable app. If they do launch, the compose box will probably matter more day to day, even though the sound stickers will get more attention.
