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A More Complete Liquid Glass Transformation Is Taking Shape
WhatsApp’s long-running visual transformation on the iPhone is far from finished. After gradually adopting Apple’s Liquid Glass design language across major parts of its interface, WhatsApp is now preparing to push the same aesthetic into smaller but highly visible areas of the app, including its drawing editor and video playback controls.
The change may sound minor at first, but it represents something bigger: Meta appears to be treating Liquid Glass as a long-term redesign rather than a simple cosmetic update. Instead of changing one navigation bar and stopping there, WhatsApp is progressively revisiting individual screens and controls so the entire application feels more consistent with the visual language introduced by Apple.
WhatsApp’s Liquid Glass rollout has already been unusually slow. Early experiments began months before the redesign became broadly visible, and even after the wider rollout started, availability remained inconsistent between users. WABetaInfo reported in April that WhatsApp was expanding the Liquid Glass interface to more iPhone users, while later updates showed Meta continuing to adapt individual components of the app.
The Drawing Editor Is Getting a Glassy Redesign
One of the next areas being prepared for the makeover is WhatsApp’s drawing editor. This is the screen users see when they edit a photo, video, or GIF before sending it through a conversation.
The editor contains several controls along the top of the screen, including options for adding text, drawing, inserting stickers, and making other edits. According to the report described in the original article, WhatsApp is working on giving these controls the Liquid Glass treatment.
That means the buttons could eventually adopt the translucent, layered appearance associated with Apple’s newer interface language instead of looking like isolated controls from an older version of WhatsApp.
Small Buttons Can Make a Big Difference
The drawing editor is a good example of why interface consistency matters. Users may spend only a few seconds inside the editor, but these brief interactions happen millions of times across the WhatsApp user base.
When one screen follows a modern visual language while another retains an older design, the application can feel fragmented. By updating the editing controls, WhatsApp is effectively trying to remove another piece of that visual inconsistency.
This follows a broader pattern already visible in WhatsApp’s development. WABetaInfo has previously reported Liquid Glass work involving the voice-message player, message reactions, context menus, and the chat interface.
The Video Player Is Also Being Updated
The second major area mentioned in the report is WhatsApp’s video player. Specifically, the progress bar displayed while watching a video is being prepared for a Liquid Glass redesign.
The progress bar is easy to overlook because it occupies relatively little screen space. However, playback controls are among the most frequently interacted-with elements in any messaging application that supports video.
Giving this component the same visual treatment as the rest of WhatsApp could make the media experience feel more integrated with iOS instead of looking like a separate interface layered on top of it.
WhatsApp Is Slowly Rebuilding the Entire Experience
This latest development makes more sense when viewed alongside WhatsApp’s previous Liquid Glass experiments. The company has already worked on adapting the voice-message player, with earlier reports describing a floating and translucent playback interface and additional playback controls.
WhatsApp has also been working on the chat interface itself. WABetaInfo reported in June that the chat bar and navigation area were being updated to better match the Liquid Glass design language.
The pattern is therefore becoming difficult to ignore: Meta is gradually moving from a partial redesign toward a much broader visual overhaul.
Liquid Glass Has Already Reached More Than Just the iPhone Interface
WhatsApp’s ambitions also extend beyond the main iPhone application. The company has been adapting its design across Apple platforms, including iPadOS and macOS.
9to5Mac reported in June that WhatsApp was testing its Liquid Glass redesign on the iPad application while also developing a corresponding experience for Mac.
That broader strategy is important because WhatsApp is no longer dealing with a single interface. Users increasingly move between iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and inconsistent designs can make the same application feel like three different products.
Why Meta Is Investing So Heavily in the Design
The most obvious reason is Apple’s platform direction. Liquid Glass is not simply another color scheme. It represents Apple’s broader approach to depth, translucency, layering, animation, and interactive controls.
For third-party developers, ignoring that language can make an application feel visually disconnected from the operating system surrounding it.
WhatsApp therefore has a strong incentive to keep adapting. The more Apple develops Liquid Glass across iOS and its other platforms, the more noticeable it becomes when a major application does not follow the same visual conventions.
The Long Rollout Is Not Necessarily a Bad Sign
Some users may understandably wonder why WhatsApp has taken so long to implement a design that, on the surface, appears relatively simple.
The answer is that a global messaging platform cannot treat a redesign like a small independent application. WhatsApp has to account for enormous numbers of devices, operating-system versions, screen sizes, accessibility settings, animations, performance conditions, and different account configurations.
Transparency and blur effects can also introduce additional rendering work. When millions or billions of users interact with an application continuously, even seemingly small visual changes need to be carefully tested.
Not Everyone Has Received Liquid Glass Yet
Another important point is that the existence of Liquid Glass code or a rollout does not mean every iPhone user will immediately see it.
WABetaInfo has repeatedly described
That explains why two people running similar versions of WhatsApp can sometimes see different interfaces.
Server-Side Rollouts Make the Situation More Confusing
WhatsApp frequently distributes certain interface changes progressively. This means updating the application does not necessarily guarantee that every new feature will instantly appear.
The feature can exist inside the installed application while remaining disabled for a particular account or rollout group.
This approach gives Meta more control over deployment. If a problem appears, the company can limit the rollout instead of exposing every user to the same issue simultaneously.
Liquid Glass Could Eventually Become the Default Visual Language
The direction of development suggests that WhatsApp is gradually moving toward a point where Liquid Glass becomes the standard visual foundation of its iOS experience.
Instead of having a Liquid Glass navigation bar alongside older-looking buttons and menus, Meta appears to be systematically updating the surrounding components.
The drawing editor and video progress bar are therefore less important individually than they are collectively. Each redesigned component brings WhatsApp closer to a unified interface.
This Is More Than a Cosmetic Update
It would be easy to dismiss Liquid Glass as another visual trend, but interface design influences how people understand and navigate an application.
Buttons need to remain recognizable. Menus need to be visually separated from the content behind them. Playback controls need to be easy to locate. Editing tools need to remain accessible without becoming visually overwhelming.
If Liquid Glass is implemented correctly, the goal should not simply be to make WhatsApp look prettier. The design should make the application feel more coherent while preserving usability.
The Biggest Challenge Will Be Balance
There is a potential downside to Liquid Glass: too much transparency can become distracting.
A translucent control placed over a busy photograph, colorful video, or complicated chat background can lose visual clarity. Apple itself has continued refining how Liquid Glass behaves across its operating systems, and third-party developers face the same challenge.
WhatsApp will need to ensure that visual consistency does not come at the expense of readability.
WhatsApp Has Already Shown It Is Willing to Refine the Design
The
The voice-message player is a particularly good example. Earlier development work described a floating translucent player and a more useful playback interface, including a five-second rewind function.
That suggests Meta is using Liquid Glass development as an opportunity to rethink functionality as well as appearance.
The Drawing Editor Could Become More Important Over Time
WhatsApp’s media-editing tools have become increasingly important as users share more photos, videos, GIFs, stickers, and other visual content.
A polished editing interface can make the process of preparing content feel significantly faster.
If WhatsApp successfully combines familiar controls with a cleaner Liquid Glass presentation, users may notice the improvement even if they cannot immediately explain why the editor feels different.
The Video Player Deserves Similar Attention
The video progress bar may seem like an insignificant detail, but media consumption has become a major part of modern messaging platforms.
People increasingly send videos, watch clips inside conversations, and interact with media without leaving the application.
A consistent playback interface can therefore contribute to the overall feeling that WhatsApp is a modern media platform rather than simply a traditional messaging application.
WhatsApp Is Following a Larger Apple Ecosystem Shift
The significance of this update becomes even clearer when viewed in the wider Apple ecosystem.
Apple’s Liquid Glass design language affects more than one application. It influences how navigation, buttons, menus, controls, and system interfaces are presented.
Third-party developers that embrace the same language can make their applications feel more naturally integrated into iOS.
WhatsApp’s decision to keep expanding Liquid Glass therefore looks less like an isolated redesign and more like an attempt to remain visually aligned with Apple’s evolving platform.
What Users Should Expect Next
The most important limitation is availability. The drawing-editor and video-player changes described in the original report are not presented as features ready for everyone to test.
They are still in development, meaning WhatsApp can change the design, delay the rollout, or even modify individual components before release.
This is normal for features discovered through beta builds. What appears during development is not necessarily identical to the final public implementation.
The Waiting Game Continues
For users who already have Liquid Glass, the next wave of changes could gradually make WhatsApp feel substantially different from the application they were using a year earlier.
For those who still do not have the redesign, the situation is more frustrating.
The important takeaway is that the absence of Liquid Glass on one account does not necessarily mean the feature has been abandoned. WhatsApp’s documented rollout history shows that Meta has been expanding the design in stages throughout 2026.
The Bigger Picture
WhatsApp appears to be building Liquid Glass piece by piece.
The navigation interface came first. Then came additional menus, reactions, chat controls, voice playback, and other components. Now the drawing editor and video playback interface are being pulled into the same design system.
That approach may be slower than users expect, but it also gives Meta the opportunity to identify problems before redesigning every part of the application simultaneously.
Deep Analysis: Why WhatsApp’s Liquid Glass Strategy Matters
A Fragmented Interface Is the Real Problem
The biggest challenge for WhatsApp is no longer introducing Liquid Glass. It is making every redesigned component feel like part of the same system.
Consistency Matters More Than Individual Effects
A beautiful translucent button means little if another screen still looks several generations older. Users judge the application as a whole.
Apple’s Design Direction Creates Pressure
As Liquid Glass becomes deeply embedded into
WhatsApp Cannot Redesign Everything Overnight
The scale of WhatsApp makes a complete redesign significantly more complicated than it appears from screenshots.
Performance Will Be Critical
Transparency, blur, animation, and layered effects must be implemented without creating noticeable battery drain, frame drops, or heat.
Accessibility Cannot Be Ignored
Users who struggle with transparency or low-contrast interfaces still need clear controls and readable content.
The Drawing Editor Is a Smart Target
Media editing is highly visual, making it one of the places where a modern interface can have an immediate aesthetic impact.
The Video Player Is Another Natural Fit
Playback controls already sit over visual content, so a carefully designed translucent interface can feel particularly natural there.
Small Changes Can Transform Perception
Users may not consciously notice a redesigned progress bar, but dozens of small improvements can collectively make the application feel substantially newer.
Meta Is Building a Design System
The repeated Liquid Glass updates suggest WhatsApp is not simply copying one Apple component. It is adapting multiple screens around a common visual language.
The Chat Interface Is Especially Important
Because users spend most of their time inside conversations, the chat screen will ultimately determine whether the redesign feels complete.
Reactions and Menus Matter Too
Context menus appear frequently, making them another major part of the perceived quality of the application.
Voice Messages Are Becoming More Integrated
The work on a Liquid Glass voice player demonstrates that Meta wants secondary playback interfaces to feel connected to the primary application.
Cross-Platform Consistency Is Increasingly Valuable
Users who move between iPhone, iPad, and Mac benefit when the same application behaves and looks familiar everywhere.
The iPad Expansion Strengthens the Strategy
The reported Liquid Glass work on iPad suggests Meta is thinking beyond a single-device experience.
Mac Development Adds Another Layer
A corresponding macOS experience could make WhatsApp feel more like a native part of Apple’s desktop ecosystem.
Server-Side Distribution Gives Meta Control
Gradual activation lets WhatsApp monitor real-world performance without immediately affecting every account.
Beta Testing Reduces Deployment Risk
Features discovered in development can be changed before becoming permanent parts of the public application.
Users Should Not Expect Every Screenshot to Become Reality
Development builds are snapshots of ongoing work, not promises of final functionality.
Visual Trends Can Become Design Standards
Liquid Glass started as
WhatsApp Has Strong Reasons to Follow
With an enormous iOS user base, maintaining a visually outdated interface would become increasingly noticeable.
The Redesign Can Improve Perceived Quality
Even when functionality remains unchanged, a more coherent interface can make an application feel faster, cleaner, and more modern.
But Aesthetic Overload Is a Risk
If every control becomes translucent and animated, the interface could become visually noisy rather than elegant.
Transparency Must Serve Function
Glass effects should help establish hierarchy and depth, not simply exist because they look impressive.
Readability Must Come First
Users should immediately understand where buttons are and what they do regardless of the background behind them.
Motion Needs Restraint
Animations can make interfaces feel alive, but excessive motion can quickly become tiring.
WhatsApp Has to Protect Battery Life
A messaging application runs throughout the day, so visual improvements cannot come at the cost of unacceptable energy consumption.
Older iPhones Still Matter
WhatsApp cannot design exclusively around the newest iPhone hardware because its user base spans many generations of devices.
Accessibility Testing Will Be Important
Contrast, text clarity, motion settings, and interface scaling need to remain reliable as the visual system changes.
The Redesign Could Influence Android Eventually
Although this particular development concerns iOS,
WhatsApp Is Becoming More Visually Ambitious
The
The Progress Bar Is a Symbol of the Bigger Change
Updating something as small as a video progress bar demonstrates how far-reaching the redesign has become.
The Editor Controls Tell the Same Story
Once secondary tools such as drawing and sticker controls receive the new treatment, fewer areas of the application will remain visually disconnected.
The Rollout Will Probably Remain Gradual
Given
The Final Version Could Look Different
Meta may adjust transparency, spacing, animations, or button placement before the features reach the stable application.
The Best Outcome Is Invisible Consistency
Ironically, the most successful redesign may be one users stop thinking about because every part of WhatsApp simply feels like it belongs together.
WhatsApp Is Playing the Long Game
Rather than forcing a massive redesign into one update, Meta appears to be gradually rebuilding the experience component by component.
The Real Test Comes After Release
Screenshots can demonstrate appearance, but only real-world use will show whether Liquid Glass improves usability without introducing distractions.
The Direction Is Clear
Regardless of when every component arrives,
What Undercode Say:
WhatsApp Is Finally Thinking Beyond the Main Screen
The most interesting part of this story is not the progress bar or drawing buttons individually. It is the fact that Meta continues returning to small pieces of WhatsApp and redesigning them.
The Slow Rollout Makes More Sense Now
At first, the lengthy Liquid Glass rollout looked like WhatsApp was simply late to Apple’s new design language. The continuing development suggests something more complicated is happening behind the scenes.
Meta Appears to Be Rebuilding the Interface Layer by Layer
Instead of applying one visual filter across the application, WhatsApp is modifying individual controls and screens. That is slower, but potentially produces a much more polished result.
The Drawing Editor Is an Important Detail
Users may overlook the drawing editor because it is not the primary WhatsApp screen. Yet updating it demonstrates that Meta wants Liquid Glass to reach deeper into the application.
The Video Player Shows Similar Ambition
The progress bar is another tiny component that would be easy to leave untouched. The fact that WhatsApp is working on it suggests the company wants fewer remnants of the previous interface.
Consistency Could Become WhatsApp’s Biggest Design Improvement
A unified interface often feels better than a collection of individually attractive screens. WhatsApp appears to be moving in that direction.
Apple’s Influence Is Impossible to Ignore
WhatsApp is not developing Liquid Glass in a vacuum. It is responding to a major shift in Apple’s own interface philosophy.
The Design Must Not Become a Gimmick
Translucency looks impressive in promotional screenshots, but WhatsApp needs to make sure users can still read, tap, edit, and navigate comfortably.
Functionality Should Remain the Priority
A progress bar should remain easy to use. Drawing tools should remain easy to find. A beautiful interface means little if those basic interactions become harder.
WhatsApp’s Scale Makes Every Decision More Difficult
A minor interface experiment has to survive millions of different device configurations and real-world usage conditions before it can become a stable feature.
Gradual Rollouts Are Probably the Right Approach
Given the size and importance of WhatsApp, slowly expanding the redesign is safer than switching every user overnight.
The iPad and Mac Direction Is Particularly Interesting
If Meta eventually creates a coherent Liquid Glass experience across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, WhatsApp could feel much more integrated into Apple’s ecosystem.
The Voice Player Was an Early Warning
The previous Liquid Glass work on voice messages showed that Meta was willing to redesign interfaces that users interact with outside the traditional chat flow.
This Looks Like a Multi-Year Design Transition
Even if most of the visible changes arrive during 2026, the broader implications could extend well beyond a single operating-system release.
Users May Eventually Forget What the Old WhatsApp Looked Like
That is usually the sign of a successful redesign. Once all the pieces become consistent, the old interface can quickly feel outdated.
The Biggest Risk Is Visual Excess
Apple’s Liquid Glass aesthetic can become distracting if developers apply it everywhere without considering hierarchy and readability.
WhatsApp Needs Restraint
Not every button needs to look spectacular. The strongest design may use Liquid Glass selectively while keeping important controls obvious.
Performance Will Determine Whether Users Love It
If the redesign remains fluid, responsive, and battery-efficient, users are likely to accept it. If it introduces lag or excessive animation, the reaction could be very different.
The Feature Is Not Ready Yet
This distinction is crucial. The drawing-editor and video-player changes are development work, not a promise that every user will receive them immediately.
The Report Still Matters
Development discoveries reveal where WhatsApp is heading, even when the final implementation has not been released.
WhatsApp’s Direction Is Becoming Clearer
The company appears committed to making its iOS application increasingly compatible with Apple’s modern visual language.
This Could Become One of WhatsApp’s Biggest Visual Transformations
The individual updates may look small, but together they represent a substantial departure from the older WhatsApp interface.
Liquid Glass Is Becoming Part of the Product Identity
At this point, it would be difficult to describe Liquid Glass as merely an experiment. The number of components being adapted suggests deeper integration.
The User Experience Will Be Defined by the Details
The quality of the final redesign will depend on tiny decisions: spacing, contrast, transparency, animation speed, button shape, and hierarchy.
The Drawing Editor Could Benefit From Simplicity
Creative tools work best when they stay out of the user’s way. A cleaner interface could make editing feel less cluttered.
The Video Player Needs the Same Philosophy
The playback interface should remain almost invisible until the user needs it.
WhatsApp Has an Opportunity Here
If Meta gets the balance right, the redesign can make WhatsApp feel substantially more native without radically changing how people use it.
The Biggest Win Would Be Coherence
Users should not have to think about Liquid Glass. They should simply feel that every screen belongs to the same application.
The Current Development Shows Commitment
Meta has continued working on Liquid Glass across multiple areas rather than abandoning the project after the initial rollout.
The Road Ahead Will Probably Be Gradual
More controls and screens are likely to receive updates before the redesign can be considered complete.
The Final Result Could Be Much More Significant Than This Report Suggests
Today’s drawing buttons and video progress bar may be tomorrow’s pieces of a much larger visual transformation.
Undercode’s Take
WhatsApp’s Liquid Glass evolution is less about making buttons look shiny and more about bringing an aging interface into alignment with a rapidly changing Apple ecosystem. The real story is the systematic nature of Meta’s work: navigation, chats, reactions, voice playback, editing tools, and video controls are increasingly being treated as parts of one design system.
The Bottom Line
The Liquid Glass redesign is still a work in progress, but the direction is unmistakable. WhatsApp is steadily moving toward a more unified, translucent, layered iOS experience. If Meta can preserve performance, accessibility, and usability while completing the transformation, this could become one of the most meaningful visual upgrades WhatsApp has received in years.
✅ WhatsApp has been progressively expanding Liquid Glass across its iOS interface. WABetaInfo documented broader rollout activity in April 2026, while 9to5Mac also reported the wider expansion in May.
✅ WhatsApp has been developing Liquid Glass treatment for additional interface components, including the voice-message player, chat interface, reactions, and context menus. These reports consistently describe several of the features as being under development rather than universally available.
❌ The drawing-editor and video-player changes should not be presented as features already released to all users. Based on the supplied report, these elements are still development work, so availability and final design remain subject to change.
Prediction
(+1) WhatsApp Will Continue Expanding Liquid Glass Across iOS
WhatsApp is likely to keep extending the design to additional controls and screens as Meta works toward a more consistent interface. The company’s repeated development activity makes a continued rollout more likely than a return to the older design.
(+1) More Media Interfaces Will Receive the New Design
The drawing editor and video player are logical targets, and other media-related controls could follow. WhatsApp has already demonstrated interest in redesigning its voice-message playback experience.
(+1) iPad and Mac Will Become Increasingly Important
With Liquid Glass work already reported for iPad and development continuing on Mac, Meta appears interested in extending Apple’s visual language beyond the iPhone.
(-1) The Rollout Will Continue to Frustrate Some Users
Because WhatsApp has repeatedly used gradual distribution, some users are likely to receive the redesigned components weeks or months after others. Different accounts may therefore continue showing different versions of the interface.
(+1) The Final Interface Will Likely Be More Unified
The strongest prediction is that WhatsApp will eventually reduce the number of old-style interface elements remaining beside Liquid Glass components. The current development pattern points toward a more consistent visual system across the application.
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