Signal adds custom wallpapers and more to catch up with WhatsApp

Signal saw an unexpected surge in user numbers following 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 bit more user-friendly.

Earlier this month, Announced signal a handful of new features that would be arriving on 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 their hands on both new features, sharing screenshots of what cat wallpapers look like. You can change your chat wallpaper in Signal by going to Settings> Appearance> Chat wallpaper. You can also change the wallpaper for an individual chat by tapping on the person’s name in the top bar and finding the chat wallpaper option.

There are 21 cat wallpapers to choose from, including 12 solid colors and 9 gradient colors. Android Police says you can also choose a photo from your phone’s camera roll for additional personalization. Previously, Signal only showed white and black backgrounds depending on whether dark mode was enabled on your device.

Android Police Also provides a quick overview of Signal’s new animated stickers, which the platform has used in the past. There is a new Day by Day sticker pack that comes with 24 animated stickers to help liven up your conversation. The art is by Miguel Angel Camprubí.

Finally, Signal seems to add a simple About section of user profiles. Users will have the option to choose an emoji and add a brief description of themselves. It’s an easy way to share a part of your personality before you even have a conversation. Apparently, Signal users can record multiple presentations and switch between them on the fly, 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 photos, with the latter already available on Android.

These new additions to Signal appear to be in the beta of the app at the moment. Hopefully the tests go smoothly so that they can be added to the stable version. Once this is rolled out, we’ll be sure to let you know.