September 30, 2026, 10:37 am | Read time: 2 minutes
Birthdays among friends or family can easily be forgotten. According to reports, WhatsApp is working on a feature that will notify users directly in the messenger when a contact has a birthday.
This is indicated by current beta versions examined by “WABetaInfo.” Several options are apparently planned to make contacts’ birthdays visible. The updates were discovered in the WhatsApp beta for iOS 26.38.10.70.
WhatsApp Marks Birthdays
One of the new features concerns the planned contacts tab by WhatsApp. It will be immediately apparent when someone has a birthday. A cake emoji will appear under their name along with the note “Birthday today.” The marking will remain visible throughout the day.
However, the prerequisite is that the birth date is stored in the smartphone’s address book. WhatsApp is expected to automatically adopt the information and consider any later changes.
According to “WABetaInfo,” the contacts tab is set to replace the current “Status” tab. Status updates and channels will apparently move to the “Chats” area.
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Birth Date Directly in WhatsApp Profile
In parallel, WhatsApp is developing its own birthday field for contact information. When opening a contact’s profile, the date will be displayed prominently. According to “WABetaInfo,” the field is intended to appear directly after the name and last online status.
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While the contacts tab only highlights the birthday on the actual day, the stored date remains visible in the profile at all times. Both features are still in development and are not yet available to beta testers.
A Birthday Overview Is Also Planned
WhatsApp has been working on the topic of birthdays for several months. In July 2026, hints of an overview for upcoming birthdays appeared in the Android beta 2.26.27.3. Users will be able to see at a glance which contacts have birthdays soon. Additionally, according to “WABetaInfo,” a notification within the app is planned once the respective birthday is approaching.
It is not yet known when these features will be available to all users. Since the updates are still in development, their appearance and functionality may change before release. It is also unclear whether the features will be available only for Android or also for iOS.