WhatsApp rolled out ‘Stickers’ on both Android and iOS in late 2018. However, animated stickers remained MIA, something that the company is now trying to rectify. The Facebook-owned platform added animated stickers to the beta version of its Android app last month before removing them abruptly. The company, however, later confirmed the feature, along with a host of other new functionalities. Well, WhatsApp is now rolling out 4 new animated sticker packs to the beta versions of the app on both Android and iOS.
The new animated sticker packs are available in WhatsApp beta version 2.20.194.17 on Android and version 2.20.70.26 on iOS. For me, all the five animated sticker packs are available on version 2.20.195.6. They can be accessed from the normal stickers carousel, and will be marked by triangular ‘video’ buttons next to them.
Do note that the new feature is only available on the beta right now, with no word on when it will be rolled out to the stable version. They are rolling out in phases, so it might take a while to be available for everyone. Once they’re available on your account, you should be able to download them from the WhatsApp Store.
Meanwhile, if you are using the WhatsApp beta and you send an animated sticker to someone who is on stable WhatsApp, they will simply get a regular sticker instead. So you can’t really tease your friends with animated stickers. Believe me, we tried.
So, what do you think about animated stickers, and do you have access to them yet? Let us know in the comments.
