Animated tags have been available on Telegram and Gboard for a long time, but WhatsApp has only supported static tag images so far. Whether it’s through the few included bundles of the app or third-party downloadable bundles from the Play Store, you have still image stickers. That changed briefly today in the beta version of WhatsApp, as the app introduced animated sticker support.
The feature appeared in beta v2.20.194.7 (APK Mirror) and then disappeared in v2.20.194.9. When it’s working, the animated pack stickers are live in the conversation, though they only animate once and stop. You must scroll up or down to activate its playback again. That can change when the function is implemented correctly, or it could be a conscious decision by the developers to avoid too much movement on the screen when you try to read some messages.
The stickers are also shown animated in WhatsApp’s built-in selector, but they repeat indefinitely there.
We currently know of five animated sticker packs: Playful Piyomaru, Rico’s Sweet Life, Moody Foodies, Chummy Chum Chums, and Bright Days. They all seem to be WhatsApp-supplied, but they can’t be added or found until someone sends you a sticker for each pack. That is likely to change when the feature is successfully implemented. We still haven’t found any third-party packages that support the feature.
If you want to try these tags, you must be in WhatsApp beta v2.20.194.7, which is still available in APK Mirror, and receive a tag from someone who has enabled them. If you keep automatic app updates in Play Store it will increase to 194.9 and stickers will no longer be animated. We will have to wait a bit to get the proper deployment.
