WhatsApp cover photos are coming to business accounts

WhatsApp logo (Image credit: Harish Jonnalagadda / iMore)

What you need to know

WhatsApp is testing a change that will allow businesses to add cover photos to their accounts.
The new cover photo feature is being tested with iOS TestFlight users right now.
There is no indication that those who have persona accounts will also be able to use the same feature.

The hugely popular instant messaging service WhatsApp is testing a feature change that will allow business users to set a cover photo for their accounts.

The feature, which doesn't appear to be in the works for standard users accounts, is currently being tested by those who are on the iOS TestFlight program according to a WABetaInfo report.

As you can see in this screenshot, WhatsApp is planning to introduce a camera button in your Business Settings: you can select a photo or take a new one to use as the cover photo. When other people (including standard WhatsApp user accounts) visit your business profile, they will be able to see your cover photo.

Whatsapp Profile Cover Photos

Whatsapp Profile Cover Photos (Image credit: WABetaInfo)

Unfortunately, there is no indication that this cover photo feature will come to the accounts of private users although there is the chance WhatsApp could change course in the future — even before the feature ships to businesses, if we're lucky.

There is no available timescale for when this new feature will roll out to businesses or indeed if it even will — beta features can still be killed off before making their way into the App Store, of course.

WhatsApp is one of the best iPhone and Mac apps for people who need to communicate with people on other platforms and can be a valuable tool for businesses and private users alike.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.