WhatsApp's Dark Mode for iPhone Inches Closer to Release, Requires iOS 13

WhatsApp's Dark Mode for iOS got one step closer today, with the long-awaited feature rolling out to all beta users on TestFlight. Gleaning details from the latest 2.20.30.25 build, WABetaInfo has provided a few more nuggets on what iPhone users can expect.

First off, the new Dark Theme is a better one than the previous version WhatsApp was working on, with no battery drain and support for Apple's official iOS 13 APIs. So like Instagram, it respects Apple's guidelines and syncs with the system-wide ‌Dark Mode‌ setting, switching on and off if the user has set it to Automatic.

Given that WhatsApp uses Apple's APIs, the dark theme won't be available for users running iOS versions earlier than iOS 13. In other words, you'll need an iPhone 6s or later to be able to use it.

There's a redesigned dark splash screen with the WhatsApp logo, which makes way for a dark chats list screen. All the other screens are similarly fully darkened.

Meanwhile in chat threads, WhatsApp will show dark chat bubbles and a dark version of the chosen wallpaper – this part's dynamic, so if you switch the theme, the wallpaper style changes too. WhatsApp has also done some extensive work on a raft of Dark Mode-friendly solid colors.

According to WABetaInfo, this latest WhatsApp beta build supports an additional dark theme setting that uses lighter dark colors for some UI elements if the user has the high contrast setting enabled.

Away from ‌Dark Mode‌, this beta also includes a noteworthy new feature in the form of an advanced search function, adding a categorical breakdown in the search bar with options for filtering the search through photos, GIFs, links, videos, documents and audio.

Note that the WhatsApp TestFlight beta program on iOS is already at maximum capacity, so if you're not already on it, you'll have to wait for the build to go public, which could be any day now.