WhatsApp Tests Animated Emoji Reactions on Android

WhatsApp is testing a new feature that brings animation to emoji reactions, making responses to messages more engaging and dynamic.

The feature is currently available to a limited number of Android beta testers. When users long-press a message and select an emoji from the reaction tray, the emoji may appear with an animation instead of remaining static.

However, animated reactions are currently supported only for selected emoji. If the chosen emoji does not have an animated version, the reaction will appear as it normally does.

The animation plays once after the reaction is added and then stops. WhatsApp enables animated reactions by default for accounts that have access to the feature, but users can disable them through the relevant settings if they find the animations distracting.

Since WhatsApp is gradually rolling out the feature, its availability may vary between users, even when they are using the same beta version.

For now, animated emoji reactions remain limited to selected Android beta users, and it is not yet clear when the feature will be made widely available.