WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned encrypted messenger service, had a rough start to the year, facing a lot of criticism when it announced its new privacy policy. In the meanwhile, WhatsApp is also looking at changing users' experience in surprising ways.

It has been revealed now that the company has been busy working on new features to its messenger service such as a new View Once mode for image sharing and upcoming support for using the service across multiple devices.

Apart from testing new features on the beta version of WhatsApp, the company has also been working on updating the visual appearance of the app for users on iPhone and Android devices.

These changes were spotted by feature leaker WABetaInfo, on the latest beta versions of the WhatsApp app for Android and iOS. Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming visual improvements to WhatsApp for Android and iOS devices.

Larger link previews on WhatsApp for iOS and Android

WhatsApp recently began working on larger link previews for URLs on the latest beta version of WhatsApp for iOS, and WABetaInfo reports that the service has now begun working on the same feature on the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android.

Users who have signed up to receive beta builds of WhatsApp for Android who have updated to this version will not see the feature, however. That is because the feature is still under development and will probably be introduced at a later date.

According to WABetaInfo, if some websites do not have a high-resolution preview for the URL, WhatsApp will show a smaller thumbnail instead.

Smaller profile pictures on WhatsApp for Android

We recently reported that WhatsApp has made some changes to the notification 'action' font colours on the app (from green to a grey-blue colour) then reverted the changes after users complained of reduced readability.

The company has also recently removed the line separators between chats for many users, and the latest beta version 2.21.14.8 reportedly gets rid of the outdated design for even more users.

Users who notice the line separators are gone, might see smaller profile photos in the app, according to WABetaInfo.

 - TNS