WhatsApp makes change to messages which users 'hate' and 'cannot stand'

WhatsApp has made a massive change which has not gone unnoticed by users - and users are fuming. The popular "typing..." message at the top of chats appears to have been axed in favour of an alternative which has been slammed as we head towards Christmas.

Instead a new chat bubble animation has popped up below the latest chat message. "Not a fan of the new typing indicator on WhatsApp," one user wrote on X. "WhatsApp now has the three dots typing thing like iMessage and I Hateeeee it," a second person commented.

"Hello @WhatsApp can we just go back to so and so is typing? This dot dot dot bouncing up and down is getting to be annoying," a third complained. "whatsapp was bad enough and now this stupid typing button update wtf," another said.

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"Anyone else notice WhatsApp have changed the typing and online part at the top and made it a capital letter?! Making my eye twitch," another fumed. Another sniped: "Anyone else get irrationally annoyed by WhatsApp's latest iOS update where, if someone is online, it's now with a capital "O" (Online), or when someone is typing, it's a capital "T" (Typing)."

The Meta-owned app has quietly added a speech bubble animation, which appears when someone you're messaging is typing. The feature replaces the 'typing...' message, which usually appears at the top of the screen under your contact's name.

The new speech bubble animation is similar to the one used in Apple's iMessage, and shows three dots bouncing up and down as your contact types. It was initially tested with a small group of users back in October, the social networking giant and messaging platform has previously confirmed.

Speaking to The Telegraph at the time, a WhatsApp spokesperson said: "This was just a small test, but it's going back to normal now."