WhatsApp is very popular in large parts of the world, even wholly replacing SMS as the standard form of text communication. But there’s no denying that the instant messaging app is behind the curve when it comes to new features. Even the most minor changes to WhatsApp will affect over two billion users, so the platform moves cautiously with changes. It seems a big change is on the horizon, as WhatsApp’s upcoming themes feature is getting ready for rollout, and we have a demo of it.

WhatsApp has long been working on a default chat theme feature, and WABetaInfo spotted more evidence of it. This feature will let users choose their preferred colors for the chat bubbles in the conversation screen and the accompanying wallpaper from a handful of predefined themes.

We managed to activate the feature in WhatsApp v2.24.20.12 beta, so here are some screenshots of it in action:

There will be a couple of presets to choose from, though we could activate only a few. You will be able to choose from a broader range of preset wallpapers, and the chat bubble will be accented to match it in the preset.

You will also be able to set the darkness of the overall look, gradually switching between a light theme and a black theme.

Here’s a video demo of the feature in action:

The selected theme will become your default chat theme and will be applied to all chats. You may be able to override the theme manually in specific chats. Also, note that the theme is visible only to you. Other participants in the chat will see the theme they set on their devices.

Right now, the default theme presets do not work. But WhatsApp is evidently making good progress. We hope the service rolls out this feature to users soon.