WhatsApp users baffled after spotting bizarre change to group chats

How many times do we have to tell Meta, “If it ain't broke, don't fix it”? WhatsApp is one of the most used apps around the world, with statistics claiming there are over three billion active users every month.

Whether it's the family group chat, organizing a hen party, or keeping up with your old work colleagues, WhatsApp has become many people's default messaging app. Whereas iPhone has Messages and Android has Google Messages, many smartphone users put their differences aside and shake hands across WhatsApp.

Despite WhatsApp's popularity, there's nothing quite like an unexpected change to rattle the ever-grouchy community.

Alongside discourse surrounding iPhone-inspired typing bubbles and AI summaries not working as they should, you've recently been annoyed by the introduction of Meta AI as it feels like the tech giant tries to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Whether it be fundamental changes from the very foundations of WhatsApp or simple aesthetic changes, it's clear you aren't a fan of change.

Now, WhatsApp users have been left baffled by a change to display pictures. WhatsApp is no stranger to aesthetic tweaks, and hoping to add a splash of color to things, there are new themed icons for contacts and groups that don't have a profile photo.

If someone hasn't set a profile picture or has chosen to hide it, the app will add a specifically themed icon to them.

The idea is that it'll make it easier to tell contacts and group chats apart instead of sifting through a sea of generic names. With each contact getting a color, you should be able to differentiate between everyone.

Over on Reddit, eagle-eyed users noticed how display pictures include one or two people. It didn't take a genius to figure out two people are for a group chat, while one person is for a single contact.

Most agreed the colors don't correspond to a specific meaning, although someone had a theory as they wrote: "I noticed that people who blocked me after an argument turned from the gray profile icon to red. WA says this doesn’t exist as an indicator but the only people who blocked me did that."

Another flagged a potential problem as they added: "On my phone I have an icon for some people and on my desktop app their profile picture. Seems like privacy doesn't carry over to PC."

A third mused: "I’ve got red, orange, yellow, green, blue, teal, pink and purple. Orange seems to be for spam, others I think are random 🤷🏻‍♀️."

Meta hasn't confirmed whether there's anything to the color system, although the red = blocked idea seems to be taking off on Reddit.

At the end of the day, it's not exactly a big deal, and to be honest, there are a ton of other features we'd rather see.