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WhatsApp has begun rolling out animated emoji reactions to some Android beta testers, according to WABetaInfo, the outlet that tracks WhatsApp's unreleased features. The change was spotted in WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.26.33.4, available through the Google Play Store's beta testing programme, and means that select emoji now play a short animation when used to react to a message, rather than appearing static as they have since reactions launched.
The update extends a feature WhatsApp already applies to emoji sent inside messages to the reaction tray, the small strip of six emoji that appears when a user long presses a chat bubble.
How the animated reactions work
WhatsApp reactions have always let users tap and hold a message to bring up the reaction tray, then tap an emoji to attach it to that message. Until now, the emoji appeared exactly as it does on a phone's keyboard, with no motion. With the new build, if the chosen emoji has an animated version available for reactions, WhatsApp plays that animation once before the emoji settles into place. If no animated version exists yet for that particular emoji, the reaction still appears static, unchanged from the current experience.
The rollout is gradual, meaning two users on the same beta build may see different results depending on which server-side test group they fall into. WABetaInfo notes that the feature is enabled by default for those who have it, so no manual setting needs to be switched on to start seeing animated reactions.
According to the outlet's testing, four emoji currently support animated reactions: Thumbs Up, Red Heart, Face with Tears of Joy, and Folded Hands. WhatsApp is expected to extend animation to additional emoji, including Fire, Two Hearts, Smiling Face with Heart-Eyes, Enraged Face, and Rolling on the Floor Laughing, in a future update. The company has not published a full list of which emoji will eventually support animation, and WABetaInfo's reporting indicates the pack will keep expanding rather than launching complete.
Built on the same technology as animated stickers
Animated emoji are not new to WhatsApp. The company first introduced them for outgoing messages with the Android beta 2.24.15.15 update, allowing a limited set of emoji to animate briefly when typed and sent in a chat. WhatsApp built the feature using Lottie, an open source animation library that renders vector-based animations efficiently on mobile devices. The same library underpins WhatsApp's animated stickers, which explains why the emoji move in a comparable style, playing once and then holding on the final frame rather than looping indefinitely.
Because only a subset of emoji have Lottie-based animated versions, WhatsApp's implementation is necessarily uneven: some emoji will animate, most will not, at least for now. WABetaInfo's coverage suggests this is a deliberate, phased rollout rather than a technical limitation of the library itself.
For users who find the movement distracting, WhatsApp added a way to turn it off with the Android beta 2.25.11.10 update. A toggle in the app settings switches all emoji, including reactions, back to their static form. That control is already widely available, ahead of the reactions rollout itself, giving users an opt-out before the more visible reaction animations reach their devices.
Currently free, but could Plus absorb it later?
As rolled out in this beta build, animated emoji reactions are not gated behind WhatsApp Plus. WABetaInfo describes the feature as available to beta testers generally, with no mention of a subscription requirement, and the toggle to disable animation (widely available since beta 2.25.11.10) applies to all users regardless of tier.
Whether that stays the case is a separate question. WhatsApp is already testing a related, currently Plus-exclusive feature called custom emoji reactions, which would let subscribers swap the six default emoji in the reaction tray for ones of their choosing. That WhatsApp is building two emoji-reaction features side by side, one free and one paid, raises a reasonable possibility: as the animated emoji pack expands beyond the four emoji currently supported (Thumbs Up, Red Heart, Face with Tears of Joy, and Folded Hands), WhatsApp could eventually restrict the broader animated set, or exclusive animation styles within it, to Plus subscribers, while leaving a baseline of animated reactions free.
This would track Meta's broader monetisation pattern since WhatsApp Plus launched in May 2026. Plus has consistently added cosmetic and personalisation features, such as premium stickers, theme colours, and custom app icons, without touching core messaging functionality. Animated reactions sit squarely in that cosmetic category, which is precisely the kind of feature Meta has chosen to monetise elsewhere rather than keep entirely free. Naomi Gleit, Meta's head of product, said at launch that "more fun features" would be added to the subscription over time, without specifying what those would be.
The counterargument is that WhatsApp has, so far, kept animated emoji, both in messages and now reactions, free since their original 2024 introduction, and gating something users already have access to would be a harder sell than introducing new paid features from scratch, as it did with custom emoji reactions. Meta has not announced any plan to move animated reactions behind Plus, and this remains speculative reasoning based on the company's product pattern rather than a reported or confirmed roadmap item.
For Kenyan users, the stakes of that possibility are modest but not negligible. WhatsApp Plus is priced at KES 119 per month locally, in line with Meta's global strategy of keeping the subscription in the range of a few dollars a month. Whether animated reactions eventually widen for free or become another line item behind that KES 119 paywall will shape how the feature is perceived locally, especially given how price-sensitive the Kenyan app subscription market has historically been.
Context: WhatsApp Plus and Meta's subscription push
WhatsApp Plus launched globally on May 27, 2026, as part of a wider rollout of paid subscription tiers across Meta's family of apps, alongside Instagram Plus and Facebook Plus. WhatsApp Plus costs $2.99 a month in the United States, with regional pricing that has varied elsewhere, for example around €2.49 a month in parts of Europe. Meta's head of product, Naomi Gleit, described the tiers as an extension of features the company's users already engage with, rather than a paywall placed in front of core functionality.
The subscription's current feature set is cosmetic and organisational rather than functional. Subscribers get access to exclusive animated stickers, a choice of 18 app theme colours, 14 custom app icons, premium ringtones, the ability to pin up to 20 chats instead of the standard limit, and bulk settings management across chat lists. Core messaging, calling, and privacy features remain unchanged and free for all users regardless of subscription status. WhatsApp Plus is currently limited to personal accounts; WhatsApp Business is not included in the offer.
Meta has indicated that more features will be added to WhatsApp Plus over time, and the custom emoji reaction test fits that pattern of gradually layering personalisation tools into the paid tier, even as features like the current animated reactions rollout remain free.
How this compares to Telegram
Animated and custom emoji are not a new concept in messaging apps generally. Telegram introduced an open emoji platform in 2022 that let anyone upload custom animated emoji packs, with Telegram Premium subscribers gaining access to more than 500 premium emoji across ten packs, the ability to use custom emoji as an animated profile status, and the option to react to messages with an expanded, effectively unlimited selection of animated emoji. Telegram later opened up a large share of that reaction catalogue to non-paying users as well, keeping some elements, such as custom emoji packs and profile status emoji, behind its Premium tier.
WhatsApp's current animated reactions rollout is narrower by comparison. It applies motion to a small, fixed set of existing emoji rather than introducing a platform for custom or user-uploaded emoji art. Whether WhatsApp eventually adds Telegram-style custom emoji packs, badges, or an open emoji platform of its own is not something the company has announced or that WABetaInfo has reported testing at this stage.
Availability
Animated emoji reactions are live only for a portion of Android beta testers running WhatsApp beta 2.26.33.4, downloaded through the Google Play Store's testing programme. WhatsApp has not said when the feature will reach the stable, non-beta version of the app, or when it will be available to all users rather than a gradually expanding test group. Users who update to the latest beta and still see static reactions have not necessarily missed the feature; WABetaInfo notes the rollout is expected to widen over the coming weeks.
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