WhatsApp is testing birthday reminders for your contacts

WhatsApp is working on a new feature that shows birthday reminders in the Contacts tab. The update reads birthday dates from the phone's address book to display the information next to the contact. Users who already have birthdays saved in their contacts app will see the reminder automatically.

WhatsApp is developing a new Contacts tab for iOS

In the post about the WhatsApp beta for iOS 26.26.10.16 update, we announced a new Contacts tab for the bottom navigation bar. This new section will replace the Updates tab once WhatsApp moves status updates and channels into the Chats tab. Status updates are already visible at the top of the chat list for some users, and WhatsApp will introduce Channels into the same tab later. Once WhatsApp releases these changes, WhatsApp can introduce a new Contacts section where users can see who is online.

WhatsApp will add birthday reminders to the Contacts tab

While the Contacts tab is still in development, WhatsApp is already refining its functionality. For example, WhatsApp is working on bringing birthday reminders to the contacts tab. This information will appear next to a contact when it is their birthday. We discovered this with the WhatsApp beta for iOS 26.38.10.18 update, which is available on TestFlight. With this update, WhatsApp is testing birthday reminders for the Contacts tab. WhatsApp will show the reminder automatically for any contact who has a birthday saved in the address book.

How birthday reminders appear in the Contacts tab

WhatsApp will mark a contact's birthday with a cake emoji and a "Birthday today" label below their name. Users will be able to notice it immediately without opening the calendar app. WhatsApp will make the reminder visible for the entire day, so users can notice it whenever they open the Contacts tab. This feature encourages users to send a birthday message without setting up any separate reminder.

Where WhatsApp gets the birthday information from

WhatsApp does not ask users to enter birthday dates manually within the app. Instead, it reads the information directly from the phone's address book. Users who have already saved a contact's birthday in the Contacts app will see the reminder automatically. People who want to add a birthday for a contact can edit it in the Contacts app to add a birthday field. WhatsApp will pick it up from their address book the next time they open the app.

Why birthday reminders are helpful in the Contacts tab

The Contacts tab will give users useful information about the people they communicate with. This includes who is online, who was recently active, and when a contact has a birthday. A birthday reminder in a contacts list won't interrupt the user since it appears as soon as they open the tab. Users who open this tab to start a conversation will notice the reminder immediately. For anyone who regularly forgets to check birthdays, this feature will make it harder to miss one.

The Contacts tab is still under development

WhatsApp keeps working on refining the experience with the Contacts tab. Before releasing it to the public, WhatsApp is adding new details like birthday reminders to make the tab as useful as possible. This means that WhatsApp is improving the full experience of the tab before making it available. Over time, WhatsApp may continue to refine the tab with more features to make the tab more helpful.

WhatsApp is developing birthday reminders for a future iOS update

This feature is currently under development on iOS. Since it is in development, the feature is not ready for beta testers yet. We expect WhatsApp to make it available to beta testers in a future update. At the moment, WhatsApp has not announced when this feature will be available.

Connect with WABetaInfo

Follow WABetaInfo on X and visit our About page to learn more about what we do. We always appreciate your feedback on posts like this one.