Meta's avatars are officially rolling out to WhatsApp. These customizable and expressive characters are already available on Facebook and Instagram since February this year.
Now, you can use Meta's avatar as a profile picture on WhatsApp. You can also send it in the form of one of 36 custom stickers, according to MacRumors.
Avatars Roll Out to WhatsApp Users Everywhere
According to Meta's press release, avatars will be rolling out to WhatsApp users everywhere starting today.
For a couple of months now, the avatar feature has been steadily rolling out to beta testers.
Since October, the feature has been available to some beta users on both Android and iOS. With the global rollout, avatars are expected to become available for all users on mobile in the upcoming weeks.
While customizing the cartoony virtual characters in WhatsApp is similar to Apple's Memoji, it includes bodies for customizing additional outfits. This makes the avatars resemble how users could one day look in Meta's vision of a future metaverse.
Using the feature is fun, but apart from that, the avatars will boost privacy and personalization, according to Meta.
The company wrote in a blog post that sending an avatar is a fast and fun way to share what you feel with friends and family.
Likewise, the company added that using the new feature is a great way to represent yourself on the platform without using your real photo, thus, it will feel more private.
The avatars of Meta are one of the many virtual customizable characters available across different platforms and messaging apps.
According to The Verge, Bitmoji, the 2D characters now owned by Snap, can be considered one of the well-known customizable characters.
System-level avatars in the form of Memoji and AR Emoji are also offered by Apple and Samsung, respectively.
However, the customizable character could end up being the most significant for Meta. The company is pitching that one day it will represent its users in the so-called metaverse.
Avatar Beta Testers for WhatsApp Launched in October
In October, the avatar feature made its way to Meta's popular messaging app WhatsApp. It comes with the latest beta update of the app.
For quite a few months, WhatsApp has been working on bringing Avatar support to the platform.
According to XDA, WABetaInfo is the first one to spot mentions of the feature in a WhatsApp beta update for Android in June.
In August, Meta gave users the first look at the sticker integration. Eventually, it went live to beta testers in the latest WhatsApp beta for Android.
The beta testers back in October allowed you to create a 3D avatar of yourself using the avatar editor in the app. Just like the current rollout, you can use it as your profile picture. It also allowed you to create a new sticker pack that you can share in chat.
To check if the avatar feature has rolled out to you yet, open WhatsApp, then go to the Settings screen. Afterward, check for an Avatar menu option under your profile picture.
From there, you can start creating an avatar using a variety of outfits, hairstyles, and facial features, according to Meta.
Related Article: Mac Users Can Now Access WhatsApp Through a macOS App - Here's What You Need To Know
