Google suggests app developers use a bottom navigation bar for Android apps to make navigation easier. Since Google issued this guideline a couple of years ago, many apps on Android have implemented the bottom navigation bar. However, WhatsApp isn’t one of them. It still uses tabs at the top for navigation.
Although it isn’t that hard to use, it is certainly not as convenient as using a bottom navigation bar. But that's going to change soon as WhatsApp is now testing a bottom navigation bar. As discovered by WABetaInfo, the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android (v2.23.8.4) features a bottom navigation bar as opposed to top-mounted tabs in the current stable version.
WhatsApp's Android app to get bottom navigation for easier access
As you can see in the image above, this bottom navigation bar has four buttons: Chats, Communities, Status, and Calls, which is similar to the layout of WhatsApp’s iOS app. The latest design change will not only make navigating the app much easier but also bring the app's design more in line with Google’s design philosophy as well as WhatsApp's look in iOS.
The latest design change is currently under development. Once the development is complete, it will be rolled out to the beta testers, and once that’s done without issues, it will be made available to the public. However, there’s currently no concrete information about when WhatsApp will offer the bottom navigation bar in the stable version of the app. That being said, going by WhatsApp’s feature rollout timelines, you can expect WhatsApp to offer the bottom navigation bar in the stable version of the app in the next couple of months.
