WhatsApp Profile Cover Photo Is Rolling Out to Android Beta

Your WhatsApp profile has always been one tiny circle. A face, a logo, a sunset, a blurry cat. That circle has carried every family group, every "who has the notes?" and every "seen at 2:14 a.m." for years. Now the WhatsApp profile cover photo is arriving, and the circle is about to get a giant banner stuck above its head.

WABetaInfo reported on October 30, 2026 that WhatsApp is rolling the feature out to some Android beta testers. Read that sentence slowly: some, Android, beta. This is not a launch. Nobody has pushed a button that changes your phone tomorrow morning. But it is a clear signal, and a funny one, because WhatsApp spent this month letting people join calls without even having an account. First it let strangers into the call. Now it wants you to decorate the lobby.

Below you get the facts, the privacy settings, and a few honest guesses clearly marked as guesses. I will also make fun of the family group, because somebody has to.

What is the WhatsApp profile cover photo?

It is a wide, landscape picture at the top of your profile. Facebook has had one forever, so if you have ever seen a profile with a big photo of a beach behind a small photo of a face, you already know the idea.

The part that surprises people: WhatsApp did not invent it just now. Business accounts could already add a banner, so a bakery could show a tray of bread instead of just a phone number. What is new is that ordinary personal accounts are getting the same thing, with no business account needed.

WABetaInfo first noticed WhatsApp working on this in an earlier beta, version 2.25.32.2. The latest report says it has started showing up in the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.26.43.11 on Google Play, for a limited group of testers. Translation: if you are not in that group, you will see nothing. Do not hunt for a hidden switch. There isn't one.

What the WhatsApp profile cover photo looks like

Here is what the report describes, point by point:

• It is a landscape banner at the top of your profile page.
• It does not replace your profile picture. You keep both. The round picture stays your face in the chat list, and the banner sits behind it like a stage set.
• It shows at the top of your app settings, so you see your own banner every time you open that section. Great for people who love looking at themselves, terrible for people who picked a bad photo at midnight.
• It shows on the chat info screen when someone opens a conversation with you and taps your name. There it sits above your profile picture, your name and your phone number.
• If you pick nothing, WhatsApp shows a default image until you do. That tells you what Meta expects: this banner will be on every profile eventually, whether you asked for it or not.

Now imagine the chat info screen of the average family group. Uncle's banner is a sunset with a Bible verse. Cousin's banner is a car he does not own. Your aunt's banner is a photo of a thermos. Nobody asked, and everybody will have an opinion. That is a guess about human behaviour, not a quote from WhatsApp. I stand by it completely.

How personal accounts set a cover photo in the beta

This is not a tutorial, because beta screens change and I do not want you following steps that vanish next week. But the flow, as reported, is short.

You open your profile page and tap the Edit button. A menu appears and asks how you want to set the cover photo. You can take a new photo, pick one from your gallery, or let Meta AI generate one. Whichever you choose, WhatsApp crops it automatically to fit the landscape shape.

That last option is the interesting one. A good banner is hard to find. Most galleries are full of food, screenshots and 400 pictures of the same wedding. So Meta offers to make one for you with its assistant. If you want to know what that assistant is really doing across your accounts, I covered it in Meta Muse, Meta's AI agent, and the sheer number of people trying it is in Meta Muse's 10 million downloads. If you are wondering how a text prompt turns into a picture at all, how AI actually works explains it without making your head hurt.

One practical thing. WhatsApp decides the final crop, not you. A tall photo, or one with the important part near the edge, may come out looking like a hostage video. Pick a wide picture and keep the subject in the middle. If the file you want is in a format your gallery refuses to open, a browser-based bulk image converter turns it into JPG or PNG without uploading it anywhere.

WhatsApp cover photo privacy settings

Stop scrolling for jokes. This section is the serious one.

The update adds a privacy setting for the cover photo, on the same screen where WhatsApp already keeps your other profile privacy options. There are four choices:

• Everyone: any WhatsApp user can see it. This is the default.
• My contacts: only people saved in your phone.
• My contacts except: your contacts, minus the people you pick. Perfect for the ex-colleague, the landlord and the relative who comments on everything.
• Nobody: nobody sees it, but the picture stays saved so you do not have to delete it.

Look at that default again. Unless you change it, anyone who has your number and opens a chat with you can see the banner. A profile picture is small. A banner is large, and it shows more of whatever you chose. A photo of your street, your office desk or your child's school uniform says a lot more than a tiny circle ever did.

The settings do what they say. If your choice does not allow someone to see the cover photo, WhatsApp does not show it on your chat info screen for that person. So the habit is simple, and it takes ten seconds: set the privacy first, pick the picture second.

If this sounds familiar, it should. Every social app ships with defaults chosen by the company and settings chosen by you, if you bother to look. I wrote about taking that control back on Facebook in Facebook Your Algorithm. Different app, same lesson.

Why Meta is adding a cover photo to WhatsApp

WhatsApp has not explained why, so this is my reading, not a fact from the report.

Facebook has cover photos. WhatsApp Business has them. Now personal WhatsApp gets one too, and suddenly the whole Meta family looks like it shares one identity in one shape. For a company that runs three of the biggest apps on earth, that is tidy.

A profile that says more about you also makes WhatsApp more useful for the groups, communities and small shops that already live in it. And there is a quieter reason: people care about things they can decorate. Anyone who has ever changed a phone wallpaper to feel better about Monday understands this.

It also fits a bigger trend this year. Platforms are arguing about what an online identity should even look like. Orkut's founder was reported to be planning a comeback around a fresh idea of profiles. Bumble's new owner now holds an app that is basically nothing but profiles. And Meta keeps reshaping how its apps feel, from small touches like this one to paid extras like Instagram Plus. A cover photo costs nothing, but it comes from the same habit: add one more reason to spend a little more time inside the app.

What nobody knows yet about the WhatsApp profile cover photo

A lot is still open, and I would rather say so than bluff.

There is no release date. The report says WhatsApp has not announced when cover photos will reach everyone. The rollout is gradual, so even beta testers do not all see it at once. If you are on the beta and the option is missing, it may appear over the coming weeks. That is an expectation, not a promise.

It is an Android beta feature. The report covers Android only. Other coverage says WhatsApp has also tested cover photo privacy on iPhone, but I have not seen an iPhone release confirmed. So if you are asking about the WhatsApp cover photo on iPhone, the honest answer today is "not confirmed."

There is one main source. This story comes from WABetaInfo, a tracker that finds features inside beta builds. A beta is a test. Features get changed, delayed or dropped before the public version, and I could not find an official announcement from WhatsApp.

There is no official size. The report says WhatsApp crops your photo to a landscape shape on its own. It gives no pixel measurements, and I am not going to make some up. If a size is confirmed, this page will be updated.

What to do while you wait

Honestly, almost nothing. That is the beauty of it.

If you are in the Android beta and the option shows up, set the privacy choice first, then the picture. If you are not, there is nothing to download, switch on or pay for. And be careful with any website or app that promises the cover photo early. A feature that WhatsApp is rolling out itself should not need a third-party app, and installing one is a risky way to get it a few weeks sooner.

For the record, if you already run a business on WhatsApp, you already have a banner. This news is for everybody else, including the person whose current profile photo is a wall.

The bottom line

The WhatsApp profile cover photo is real, but still small. It is a landscape banner above your profile picture. It appears at the top of your settings and on your chat info screen. It can come from your camera, your gallery or Meta AI. It has four privacy options with "Everyone" as the default. It is in the Android beta for some testers, with no public date.

It is not a huge feature. But it shows how WhatsApp changes: one small, quiet screen at a time, until the app you thought you knew starts looking a little different. When it reaches your phone, spend one minute on the privacy setting before you spend ten on the perfect picture. For more plain-English explainers on the apps and tools around this, see real world applications of AI and every free tool and guide on Blogs Byte.

FAQs

Is the WhatsApp cover photo for a personal account available yet?

Not for everyone. It is rolling out to some Android beta testers in WhatsApp beta 2.26.43.11. Business accounts already had cover photos, and personal accounts are getting the same feature. WhatsApp has not said when it will reach all users.

Who can see my WhatsApp cover photo?

You choose. The privacy setting offers Everyone, My contacts, My contacts except and Nobody. The default is Everyone, so anyone on WhatsApp can see it unless you change the setting. If your choice does not allow someone to see it, it is not shown to that person on your chat info screen.

Can I use Meta AI to make a WhatsApp cover photo?

In the beta, yes. When you tap Edit on your profile page, you can take a new photo, choose one from your gallery, or generate one with Meta AI. WhatsApp then crops the result to fit the landscape banner.

Does the cover photo replace my profile picture?

No. The cover photo is a landscape banner at the top of your profile, and you keep your normal profile picture as well. On the chat info screen, the banner sits above your picture, your name and your phone number.

What is the WhatsApp cover photo size?

No official size has been reported. The report only says WhatsApp crops the image to fit the landscape shape automatically. Use a wide photo with the main subject in the middle so the crop does not cut it off. This answer will be updated if a size is confirmed.

Is the WhatsApp cover photo on iPhone yet?

Not confirmed. The report covers the Android beta only. There are mentions of WhatsApp testing cover photo privacy on iPhone, but I have not seen an iPhone release confirmed.

Do I have to be a business to use a WhatsApp cover photo?

Not anymore, once the feature reaches your account. Business accounts could already set one. The new beta lets personal accounts do the same, so no business account is needed.