A WhatsApp update deployed in beta significantly improves the user experience on tablets. We’re talking about a split view here, which is much more practical in everyday life than a single-pane overview.
A selfie with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra // Source: Robin Wycke – Frandroid
The biggest difference between a smartphone and a tablet is the screen size. With a much larger diagonal, tablets inevitably offer superior user comfort and a much larger display interface. As a developer, it is therefore important to know how to adapt to provide the best user experience.
This is exactly what WhatsApp is planning in the near future. A new beta recently made available on the PlayStore makes it possible to discover a slightly revised user interface: it’s a two-part view, exclusively for tablets, we learn from WABetaInfo.
double view
The idea is simple: when you open a chat, that chat no longer takes up all the space. Instead, the left side of the screen displays the traditional chat list, while the left side opens the chat you’re about to enter (example below).
Source: WABetaInfo
This split view is useful in several ways: you can text a contact and browse the list of conversations at the same time. You don’t have to go back to access another exchange: everything is in front of your eyes at the same time. This organization also applies to the call interface.
Still in beta
Above all, it is reminiscent of certain layouts used on Samsung’s foldable smartphones. The Galaxy Z Fold 4, for example, offers such a view for the phone settings, but also for the Contacts application. The navigation is all the more fluid and simplified. You get used to that quickly.
At the moment this little tweak is only available in beta version. No doubt it will land for the general public in the coming months.
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