The newest WhatsApp beta on TestFlight brings back message animations on iOS, now with an option to turn them off. Here are the details.
As reported by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is working to bring back message animations on iOS.
The news follows a week after the same setting was introduced in WhatsApp’s Android beta, adding Messages as an option that can be enabled or disabled in Settings > Chats > Animations, alongside toggles for Emoji, Stickers, and GIFs.
WhatsApp previously removed the message animation feature from the iOS app in an earlier update, resulting in messages appearing without any effects. Now, WhatsApp is bringing back message animations on iOS, but with a new style and a dedicated setting. This change was noticed after installing the latest WhatsApp beta for iOS 26.24.10.70, available on TestFlight. Currently, some beta testers are trying out a new message animation.
According to the site, rather than “simply popping into place,” the message bubble “now fades in while slightly scaling up as it settles into the conversation, accompanied by the new animation.”
As with most features launched through WhatsApp’s TestFlight beta, message animations are currently accessible only to a limited group of testers.
No official release date has been announced yet. However, testing on both iOS and Android is still underway, suggesting that an official launch may be coming soon.