WhatsApp reverses subtle change introduced to messages after it left people feeling uncomfortable

WhatsApp seems to have backtracked on a recent change that left users furious.

The social messaging app is used by two billion people across the world, and seeing as the app has had the same general layout for years now, there haven't been any complaints.

But it seemed like the tech geniuses behind it disagreed, and tried to make a subtle change that users wouldn't notice - which didn't go down well.

You know what they say: if it isn't broken, don't fix it.

And the phrase has never applied more than to this change on WhatsApp, with updates half scaring people to death when it caught their eye in personal and group chats.

Some users thought their phones were going through some odd punctuation malfunction after spotting the change, but if you aren't glued to the hugely popular green messaging app, you may have missed the controversial change.

Users did not react well to the 'subtle' change. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

For the more seasoned WhatsApp user, you probably would have noticed that the status of the person you're texting looks slightly different to how it used to.

The tweak on iOS and Android only happened last week, but judging by the outrage, you'd think that they'd made the change for months.

Usually, at the top of a WhatsApp chat, you can see the information about the person you're messaging, indicating if they are 'online' or 'typing...' a reply.

But the change has meant that these words now have capital letters in front of them, reading as 'Online' and 'Typing" instead - how could they?

People said that they were 'irritated', 'annoyed' and expressed how much they 'hated' the change on social media, but there seems to be some good news for users following the backlash.

WhatsApp introduced a controversial update (LADbible)

The subtle changes were quietly brought in last week (LADbible)

Shortly after the change, a WhatsApp spokesman stated: “This was just a small test, but it’s going back to normal now.”

Normally, technology businesses make tons of changes to their apps and websites regularly to gauge the reaction, but social media consultant Matt Navarra noted that Meta and WhatsApp are: "Obsessed with testing. Even the smallest, most subtle tweaks can increase the time spent using an app or alter user behaviour in other ways.

“Some platform changes are often only seen by a very small percentage of users. Many tests get killed before ever reaching Meta’s nearly four billion users.”

The tests usually aren't announced and don't get noticed by a lot of users before getting the full roll-out.

Why did they feel the need to change it? (LADbible)

Of course, previous changes on other social media sites have caused severe uproars in the past, for better or for worse.

Facebook's introduction of the News Feed in 2006 would give users updates from a person's friends, and despite backlash and threats to boycott the site, Mark Zuckerberg stuck by his guns, and the feature still stands today as one of the social media app's best features.

As recently as 2022, Meta made a big move on Instagram, adding more videos and changing its algorithm to show more clips to users, in an attempt to compete with TikTok.

Stars like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner threatened to quit the app, forcing executives to go back on their decision and somewhat return the algorithm to normal.

But at the end of the day, these tech giants will unfortunately stick with the changes and press ahead if they think it's what users want, regardless of all the noise and commotion online.