WhatsApp is adding official support for Meta avatars

Avatars, the customisable characters already accessible on Meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, are now officially available on WhatsApp.

They may be used as a profile photo on the messaging app or distributed as one of 36 bespoke stickers. According to Meta's press release, the functionality will be rolled out to users globally starting today.

For the past few months, WhatsApp's avatars have been slowly rolled out to beta testers. According to reports, they've been available to certain (but not all) beta users on both Android and iOS since at least October, but they're scheduled to become available to all mobile users in the coming weeks.

Meta's avatars are among a slew of virtual, customisable characters accessible on a variety of platforms and chat apps. Bitmoji, the 2D characters currently owned by Snap, are perhaps the most well-known, while both Apple and Samsung provide system-level avatars in the shape of Memoji and AR Emoji, respectively.

However, the feature may end up being the most important for Meta, which is positioning its version as the thing that will one day represent its users in the metaverse.

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