Days after adding the ability to unlock chats using Touch ID or Face ID on iOS, WhatsApp is bringing an update to its Messaging platform on Android phones. While the update has nothing to do with authentication as was found on iPhones and iPads, the update will enable a new Settings page layout with new fonts and a more informative data usage graphs.
The latest features come as part of a beta update to WhatsApp and shifts the build number of the WhatsApp Beta app to version v2.19.45. This means the same features will soon come to WhatsApp users using the stable version of the messaging app. The highlight of the update is the main Settings screen which looks a lot clear with no line separators or grey icons.
Heading over to the new Settings page, users will be greeted with newer subsections below each of the items in the menu, which were previously only displayed after a user clicks on the item. There are no separators which divide the items in the Settings menu. While the screen previously displayed icons only on the main Settings page, WhatsApp has now added icons to all the options available in the sub-sections. Grey icons have been replaced with a new green colour under Accounts, Security, Change Number and Two-Step Verification.
The most important change in the update is the storage and data usage screen which now show stats of the data used across different sections. This allows users to monitor how much data WhatsApp has taken out of your Bandwidth and how much of these data gets stored on your phone.
While viewing the network usage screen, you’ll now see easily understandable graphs which reveal information about messages, statuses, Google Drive backups, calls, media and roaming. This will reveal which of these categories take more space and data instead of the list view which barely revealed relative data usage among sub-sections. Users can also view the total amount of data sent and received and the memory used on the phone.
The latest features are available on WhatsApp Beta version v2.19.45 and are expected to come to the stable app version in a week or two. The update is the first since March 2016 to bring changes to WhatsApp’s Settings page and succeeds the update that seeded a Picture-in-Picture mode for all android phones and WhatsApp Web.