This is in favor of the new Communities feature, which WhatsApp rolled out earlier this week. The Communities were given a dedicated tab – replacing the camera for quick access. Well, this was spotted in the latest beta of WhatsApp, which may be shifted elsewhere by the time of a stable update too.
WhatsApp Camera vs Communities
As promised earlier this year, WhatsApp added a new group chatting feature called Communities to its platform. This addition earlier this week has shown up to some people in the beta channel, who should see it appear right where the camera tab is supposed to be. So swiping far left will now house Communities instead of the camera – which is now seen shifted to the home page (Chats), and the top right beside the search button. While ditching a dedicated space for the camera for the sake of Communities seem reasonable, setting it at the top of the screen makes it hard, especially for the long screen devices. If you’re holding a Pixel 6 Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, you should put a bit extra effort into reaching the camera icon now. Although, this could be shifted later elsewhere, considering it’s seen in the beta version now. Or even better – also offer the camera a dedicated tab again, and place it aside Communities! This may make it dense, but still logical considering the editing and uploading options WhatsApp offers in camera. There’s yet another possibility of a floating camera button like the one we see in the Status tab. If not these, there’s a widget for a dedicated home screen shortcut for quick access to WhatsApp camera – no one knows – which could be the best bet if the camera icon is hard to reach.
