Signal had an unexpected increase in users after WhatsApp’s recent privacy error. In an effort to capitalize on its growing popularity, Signal has started testing features that make the messaging platform a little more user friendly.
Earlier this month, Signal announced a handful of new features that would come to the platform, including chat wallpapers and animated stickers. As promised, these two features are now available in the beta version of the app, making it look more like WhatsApp than ever.
Android Police got his hands on both new features, sharing images of what chat wallpapers look like. You can change the chat wallpaper in Signal in Settings> Appearance> Chat wallpaper. You can also change the wallpaper for an individual chat by tapping the person’s name in the top bar and looking for the chat wallpaper option.
There are a total of 21 chat wallpapers to choose from, including 12 solid colors and 9 gradient colors. Android Police said you can also choose a photo from your phone’s camera roll for extra customization. Previously, Signal had only white and black backgrounds, depending on whether dark mode was enabled on your device.
Android Police it also provides a quick preview of Signal’s new animated stickers – something the platform has been involved with in the past. There is a new everyday sticker pack that contains 24 animated stickers to help liven up your conversation. The art is by Miguel Angel Camprubí.
Finally, Signal appears to be adding a simple About section to user profiles. Users will have the opportunity to choose an emoji and also add a short description of themselves. It’s a simple way to share a little bit of your personality before you even have a conversation. Apparently, Signal users can save multiple synopses and switch between them quickly, essentially making them status updates.
If you’re on iOS, Signal said it also plans to add automatic media download settings and full-screen profile pictures, the latest already available on Android.
These new additions to Signal appear to be in the beta version of the app for now. Fortunately, the test runs smoothly so that they can be added to the stable build. As soon as this is released, we will let you know.