WhatsApp Preps Keyboard Tweaks And Kills Android 4.4 KitKat Support
Android 5.0 Lollipop will soon be the oldest version of Android that you can use on WhatsApp
Millions of people and businesses around the world use WhatsApp every day, which makes adding new features even more important. The app has seen a number of updates over the past few weeks, with the About section appearing in the app recently. Today we have other features to add to the list, including an improved keyboard layout that moves the keyboard selector from the bottom of the screen to the top.
According to WABetaInfo, this feature is still under development and it seems that it has not reached beta testers yet. However, the site notes that the keyboard shortcut has been changed in WhatsApp 2.23.9.2 beta, possibly by enabling hidden flags and displaying code.
Along with the repositioning of the keyboard selector, the top bar providing easy access to the different emoji categories is gone. While this may be a big mistake, WABetaInfo says that since this is an upgraded version of the app, you shouldn't read too much into it.
We've already heard about the arrival of animated emojis in the app. This design change may be the company's way of preparing for these new types of emoji.
Finally, this version of WhatsApp for Android is not compatible with phones running Android 4.4. Developers regularly take this step to ensure that their apps meet the latest security standards and protect against vulnerabilities in older versions of Android.
Although the update is not visible to beta test users, WhatsApp may expand its visibility in the coming days. However, it is too early to tell if any of these features will be included in the stable version of the app. Besides these minor changes to the app, WhatsApp is said to be developing a newsletter service for the platform. We later learned that this offer may be in the form of WhatsApp channels when it is no longer covered.
