WhatsApp From Meta Starts Appearing For Android, iOS Beta Users

Days after Facebook made a bold announcement of rebranding its name to Meta, beta versions of WhatsApp for iOS and Android were found to have released with the new name.

Rebranded Facebook logo and WhatsApp | Getty

New Delhi: Days after Mark Zuckerberg-owned Facebook made a bold announcement that it was changing its name to Meta, two new beta versions of its messaging app WhatsApp were found to have released with the rebranded name.

According to WABetaInfo, a beta tracker of WhatsApp, the Android beta version 2.21.22.21 now shows the revamped Meta branding while the rebranded name also appears for the iOS beta version 2.21.220.14.

“After introducing the new footer in the WhatsApp Messenger beta for iOS 2.21.220.14 update, WhatsApp is applying the same changes in the newest Android beta update today, renaming ‘Facebook’ to ‘Meta’ in the splash screen,” WABetaInfo wrote on its page.

Both the beta versions for Android and iOS now show ‘WhatsApp from Meta' in both splash screen and setting menu instead of the earlier footer that read ‘WhatsApp from Facebook'.
Facebook-owned WhatsApp had implemented ‘WhatsApp from Facebook’ footer two years ago in the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.19.331 update, to highlight that the messaging platform was a product from Facebook.

It should be noted that the immensely popular messaging app has already done away with the ‘WhatsApp from Facebook’ footer within WhatsApp Settings. WhatsApp has also done the same with the recent iOS build.

WhatsApp has also been working on multi-device support 2.0, which will bring an iPad app and let users connect to the app even without an internet connection with their phones or with it off.

Currently, beta testers for WhatsApp desktop client can join the multi-device beta programme which lets them access WhatsApp with up to four devices paired without the need of a smartphone connected to the internet.

The Facebook-owned company has also started to introduce end-to-end encrypted chat backups for iOS and Android users globally. The much sough-after update will make the chat accessible only to the users, if they choose to back up their chat history with end-to-end encryption and nobody will be able to unlock the backup, a recent report mentioned.