WhatsApp is preparing a visual upgrade that will feel instantly familiar to anyone who has used Facebook or LinkedIn. The messaging app is working on profile cover images that sit above your avatar, turning bare-bones contact cards into richer personal or professional landing pages. The move signals that Meta wants WhatsApp profiles to carry more personality and context, not just a name, number, and status line.
Instead of keeping expressive visuals confined to chats and Status, WhatsApp is lifting a design pattern that has defined social profiles for more than a decade. By borrowing the banner-style layout that made Facebook timelines and LinkedIn pages more distinctive, the service is edging closer to a hybrid identity, part private messenger and part lightweight social network.
What the new cover photos actually look like
The most concrete change is structural: cover images will appear as a wide banner at the top of user profiles, stretching across the screen above the circular profile picture. Reporting on the feature describes these cover photos as a way to add extra flair to profiles, echoing the layout that WhatsApp Business accounts already use. In practice, that means the interface will feel closer to a social profile when you tap a contact’s name, with a large image setting the tone before you even read their status or phone number.
For everyday users, this turns what was essentially a static ID card into a small canvas. A family photo, a city skyline, or a company logo can now sit in that banner, while the avatar remains the primary identifier in chats. The design mirrors how Facebook and LinkedIn encourage people to separate a recognizable headshot from a more expressive background, and it is that familiar split that makes the change feel like a natural evolution rather than a radical redesign.
From business-only to everyone’s profile
WhatsApp has quietly tested this layout for years on business profiles, where brands already display a wide header image above their details. The new feature effectively extends that treatment to personal accounts so that Cover is no longer limited to companies. That continuity should make the rollout smoother, since WhatsApp already knows how these banners behave across devices and screen sizes.
Feature trackers have also highlighted that the expansion is not just cosmetic but part of a broader 2026 update that WhatsApp describes as a New feature for regular accounts, not just enterprises. That shift matters because it moves WhatsApp away from a strict chat-first identity and toward a profile-centric model where how you present yourself visually is part of the experience for friends, family, and colleagues.
How Meta is borrowing from Facebook and LinkedIn
Meta is not improvising here, it is reusing a pattern it knows well. The company has long relied on large header images on Facebook profiles and pages, and similar banners on LinkedIn have become shorthand for professional branding. Reports on the WhatsApp change explicitly note that, albeit not limited to Facebook, this style of cover photo has not been available on other Meta-owned platforms until now, which makes its arrival in the messaging app a notable crossover.
That crossover is strategic. By aligning WhatsApp’s profile layout with the visual language of Facebook and other Meta services, the company can encourage users to think of their WhatsApp identity as part of a broader ecosystem. Meta is no stranger to the cover photo game, and the decision to bring that format into WhatsApp suggests a deliberate effort by Meta to standardize how profiles look and feel across its apps.
What we know from early iOS and Android tests
The feature is not theoretical, it is already visible in test builds. A detailed breakdown of an iOS beta shows that WhatsApp may soon add Profile Cover Photos, with the option to place a banner image directly above your avatar. In that build, the feature was spotted in the profile settings, where testers could set a cover photo from their camera roll and preview how it appears to contacts.
On the platform side, reports indicate that the feature was first Spotted on iOS, with indications that it will make its way to Android as well. That cross-platform intent is reinforced by coverage noting that, albeit not limited to Facebook, cover photo support has not yet appeared on other Meta apps and is now expected to reach WhatsApp on both major mobile operating systems, which is consistent with how the company typically rolls out major interface changes.
Privacy controls and how much others will see
Visual upgrades on messaging apps always raise privacy questions, and WhatsApp appears to be building controls alongside the new banners. Reporting on the feature notes that Users will be able to decide who can see their cover image, in line with existing options for profile photos and Status. That means you can keep the banner visible only to contacts, hide it from specific people, or potentially restrict it to a tighter circle, which is crucial in regions where WhatsApp doubles as both a personal and professional channel.
Some coverage also emphasizes that the feature may initially be limited to personal accounts and then expand, or vice versa, but in either case the privacy model is expected to mirror the rest of WhatsApp’s profile controls. One report frames the change as giving people a way to add profile cover photos like Facebook and LinkedIn, but with the added reassurance of WhatsApp’s end-to-end encrypted environment and granular visibility settings.
