WhatsApp Rolls Out New Contacts Tab on iOS Beta: See Who’s Online at a Glance

By Fatima Raza | Updated: November 11, 2026

WhatsApp has started rolling out a brand-new Contacts tab for iPhone users, spotted in WhatsApp beta for iOS version 26.44.10.70, available through TestFlight. The new tab replaces the Communities tab in the middle of the bottom navigation bar and turns WhatsApp into a proper contacts hub: your favourite contacts at the top, your full saved contact list below, and a quick way to see who is online right now without opening a single chat. For now it is only reaching some beta testers, with a gradual rollout to more accounts over the coming weeks.

It sounds like a small change, but it changes a daily habit: until now, checking whether someone was online meant opening their chat and hoping for the best. The Contacts tab puts that answer one tap away, next to a green dot — and it is only the first step in a wider rebuild of WhatsApp’s navigation, with Channels moving into Chats and birthday reminders in development for this same tab.

Key Facts: WhatsApp Contacts Tab on iOS Beta

What the New Contacts Tab Is

Think of it as WhatsApp finally admitting what it already is: a contacts app that happens to have chats attached. The Contacts tab is a centralised hub for the people you message — favourites first, then the full saved list, with no more digging through chats to find someone you have not messaged in weeks.

WABetaInfo, the tracker that first spotted the feature, calls it the place to “quickly see their contacts and if they are online”, and Gadgets360 independently reported the same rollout on November 10 with the same version number, 26.44.10.70. Two reports, one story — but only some beta testers have it so far, with more accounts switched on gradually over the coming weeks. Installing the latest beta is no guarantee, because the rollout is tied to your account, not just the version on your phone.

What the Tab Shows: Favourites, Online Status and Sorting

The layout is simple. At the top sits a Favourites section, so the people you message every day are always one tap away; below it runs the full contact list.

Then comes the feature that will change how people use WhatsApp. Sort the list by activity and the people who are online right now float to the top, each marked with a green dot next to their picture, while everyone else is sorted by last seen. Want to know whether a friend is free to talk before you call? The answer is in the list itself — no need to open the chat first.

Alphabetical sorting lists contacts by name, and birthday sorting lines them up by upcoming birthdays — a hint of the birthday reminders WhatsApp is building for this tab. Adding someone new is handled inside the tab too: tap the green button at the top, enter first name, last name, phone number and username, and choose whether to sync the contact to your phone’s address book. You can also invite friends from the same screen.

What It Replaces — and Why the Communities Tab Is Going

The Contacts tab takes the middle seat in the bottom navigation bar — the spot currently held by the Communities tab. That is a deliberate trade: WhatsApp has already added a filter in the Chats tab that lets you manage communities from the chat list itself, so a dedicated Communities tab is no longer pulling its weight. The space goes to something people will open far more often.

Communities themselves are not disappearing — they are just moving inside Chats, behind a filter. Nothing is being deleted; you will simply reach communities a different way.

How to Check If You Have It

First, the reality check. WhatsApp’s iOS beta runs through TestFlight, and places for popular apps fill up fast — there is no guarantee a new user can join today. Do not pay anyone who promises to get you in, and never download WhatsApp from anywhere except the App Store or TestFlight: unofficial builds are how accounts get stolen.

If you are already a beta tester, update WhatsApp to the latest beta from TestFlight — version 26.44.10.70 is the build where the feature was spotted — then look at the bottom navigation bar. If the middle tab now says Contacts instead of Communities, you have it. If it still says Communities, your account has not been switched on yet; keep the app updated and check again over the coming weeks.

One thing worth knowing: the tab respects privacy settings on both sides. WhatsApp only shows a contact’s online and last seen status if that person allows it — and if you hide your own status, you will not see other people’s either. That reciprocal rule is unchanged; the Contacts tab just makes it more visible.

WhatsApp keeps adding quiet features like this — see our guide to the WhatsApp message scheduling feature and how to use it.

Android Got It First — and the Bigger Redesign Taking Shape

iPhone users are second in line. The same tab rolled out on Android beta a day earlier, on November 9, 2026, in WhatsApp beta for Android 2.26.45.2, with the same Favourites section, sorting options and green dot for online contacts. Android users add contacts through a floating action button, and that version also carries a Meta AI shortcut and invite-link options — small platform differences, same idea.

But the Contacts tab is not a one-off feature — it is the visible piece of a much larger navigation redesign. The biggest next step: WhatsApp plans to move Channels directly into the Chats tab, on both iOS and Android. Status updates have already moved to the top of the chat list for some users, and once Channels follow them, the Updates tab will have nothing left to show — so WhatsApp can replace it with the Contacts tab instead.

WhatsApp is still testing how Channels will sit inside the chat list — WABetaInfo reports three configurations under test, and the final design may still look different. The company has not said which version it will roll out publicly.

One more feature is being built for the tab. Birthday reminders, spotted in WhatsApp beta for iOS 26.38.10.18, would read birthdays already saved in your iPhone’s address book and show a cake emoji with a “Birthday Today” label under the contact’s name for the whole day. But be clear: this is in development, not rolling out — not available to beta testers yet, with no announced release date.

Android users got a related preview recently — read our report on the WhatsApp Android chat preview that lets you read messages without blue ticks.

What It Means for WhatsApp Users in Pakistan

WhatsApp is Pakistan’s most-used messenger — for family calls, business orders and group chats that never sleep. A tab that shows who is online sounds minor until you think about how Pakistanis use the app: checking whether a shopkeeper is online before sending an order, or whether a family member abroad is awake before calling.

That is where this tab earns its place. Sorting by activity answers the only question that matters before a call: is this person there? The Favourites section keeps the people you message every day from being buried under group chats, and adding contacts from inside the tab closes a small loop that used to mean jumping between two apps.

The privacy side matters here too. Where WhatsApp is used for work, school groups and community announcements, online status only appears when both sides allow it — if you keep your own status hidden, do not expect to see everyone else’s.

What happens next? The tab will keep rolling out to more iOS beta testers over the coming weeks, with a stable release usually following a few weeks later — though WhatsApp has announced no date, and beta features can change or be delayed. Most people will get it when it reaches the App Store version: nothing to install, nothing to pay for, no setting to switch on.

iPhone users should also check their phone is ready for the next wave of updates — see our guide to iOS 27.2 features, compatible iPhones and how to update.

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