WhatsApp will soon let you use Facebook Avatars as your profile picture

WhatsApp is currently working on a new feature that might allow users to put avatars as their profile image.

Meta first introduced customisable avatars on Facebook back in 2020. Then earlier this year, the company rolled out customisable 3D avatars on Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and Quest. And now, word is that the company is planning to bring a similar feature to its messaging platform, WhatsApp, as well. 

According to a report by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is working on bringing Avatar Profile Picture to its platforms. A screenshot of the feature in development shared by the blog site shows that the when the company rolls out the feature to its users, they will not only be able to use these avatars as their profile pictures, but they will also be able to customise it by choosing a background colour to go with the profile picture. 

But that is not the only purpose that Meta has in mind for avatars on WhatsApp. The blogsite also says that WhatsApp users will also be able to use these avatars as stickers on the platform, just as they do in case of avatars created in iMessage. Furthermore, they will also be able to use these avatars as a mask while placing video calls. 

This means that WhatsApp users will be able to hide their faces using these avatars in video calls even as their surroundings are visible. However, the blog site says that this functionality, particularly, the ability to use avatars in video calls, will be rolled out to users in distant future. 

As far as the availability of Avatars is concerned, the report says that the feature is being developed for all of WhatsApp’s platforms, which includes its Android app, iOS app, WhatsApp Web and its desktop-based app and that it will be rolled out to beta testers soon.

Separately, WhatsApp is also working on releasing the updated version of Message Reactions to users of WhatsApp’s Desktop based app. Meta rolled out message reactions to users earlier this year. However, at the time, the options users could pick from were limited. 

Then later in the year, the company rolled out the ability to pick any emoji from WhatsApp’s keyboard as a message reaction. Now, in a separate post, WABetaInfo noted that the company is planning to bring the same functionality to Windows users via Microsoft Store soon.