WhatsApp to add Facebook-style cover photos for user profiles

Meta certainly knows the concept of the ‘cover photo.’ For years, its main and longest-running social media platform, Facebook, has offered users the ability to personalize their digital profiles with a wide 16:9 cover image. This feature offers more than just a typical headshot, allowing users greater means of expression.

Although not exclusive to Facebook, Meta has not yet implemented cover photo support on any of its other platforms. However, this may change in the near future. Observers have spotted Meta developing cover photo support for the profile screen on WhatsApp, including appropriate privacy settings to accompany this feature.

WABetaInfo noted this early development in WhatsApp’s recent iOS betas. Assuming the feature is in initial phases for iOS, developers will almost certainly bring it to Android as well.

Individual WhatsApp accounts will soon be able to add a personal touch to their profiles with a new cover photo feature. The app will display this cover photo as a banner at the top of the user’s profile.

Eventually, it will mirror the existing functionality that allows business accounts to showcase their brand. Similar to regular profile photos, WhatsApp will provide users with various privacy settings for their cover photos.

Users will find a new ‘Cover photo’ setting when they head to WhatsApp’s Settings > Privacy. Tapping on it will allow you to tinker with who can see your cover photo. Options include:

• Everyone

• My contacts

• My contacts except…

• Nobody

The “Everyone” option lets anyone with your phone number see your cover photo, while the second option limits visibility to those you have saved in your contact list.

You can choose to make your cover photo visible to all your contacts, restrict it to a select few, or hide it from everyone. However, if you choose the “Nobody” setting, it is simpler just to leave the cover photo section empty.

Note that the cover photo feature is not currently available, and no official release timeline exists as of yet.