Summary
WhatsApp’s latest beta for Android now includes AI-powered image editing tools first teased by Meta in September.
Backdrop, Restyle, and Expand options will allow users to change backgrounds, add effects, and resize images.
A recent WhatsApp beta showed further evidence of the upcoming interoperability with third-party chat apps to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act.
WhatsApp developers are always busy improving existing functionality or, as we saw recently, bringing back features that we thought were gone for good. We’ve known about Meta’s plans to bring AI-generated stickers to the app since August last year, while a dedicated AI chatbot for the app has also appeared in beta releases so far. The latest WhatsApp beta for Android now contains a couple of AI-powered image editing tools that were first teased by Meta in September.
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Some digging into the latest WhatsApp beta release for Android (v2.24.7.13) by AssembleDebug has revealed the Backdrop, Restyle, and Expand options within WhatsApp’s image editor window. According to the source, these options appear when posting a status update or sending an image to an individual contact/group.
As shown below, the AI image editing tools can be found within the sparkle icon among the top row of options. Tapping this icon lets users choose between Backdrop, Restyle, and Expand. Backdrop lets users enter a text-based prompt to change the background of the image, whereas Restyle focuses on changing the overall image by adding visual effects, also based on text prompts. Expand, on the other hand, lets users make the images bigger.
Unfortunately, we don’t know what Restyle, Backdrop, and Expand would look like on the app, as these options aren’t functioning yet, per AssembleDebug. Nevertheless, it’s good to know that these AI editing tools are on the way, just as Meta promised back in September. The folks at WABetaInfo have also managed to find these changes in version 2.24.7.13 of WhatsApp beta for Android, suggesting that Meta is laying the groundwork for the feature’s wider appearance in the future.
WhatsApp is putting the finishing touches on third-party app integration
Aside from these AI-based image editing tools, WhatsApp is also focusing on complying with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will require the app to support interoperability with third-party chat apps. We caught our first glimpse of the onboarding process recently courtesy of SmartDroid, revealing how the app would support texts from other messaging apps.
However, development on this front has been relatively slow since we learned about support for third-party apps back in September. Barring a notice from the WhatsApp team in February clarifying that these changes would be limited to the EU, there wasn’t much to go on. Meanwhile, the video above doesn’t reveal a lot either, suggesting that we’re still some distance away from seeing this fully implemented across the EU.