Azernews.Az

By Alimat Aliyeva

Avatars—three-dimensional digital versions of users created based on their appearance—are gradually being phased out in the WhatsApp messenger. At the first stage, users will lose the ability to edit these digital models, and later the feature will be completely removed from the application. Some users have already started receiving notifications about these upcoming changes, AzerNEWS reports.

The feature was originally introduced at the end of 2022, when the American company Meta was actively promoting the idea of the metaverse and aiming to unify digital identity across its platforms. At that time, avatars were seen as a step toward a more immersive online experience, allowing users to express themselves not only with photos but also with customizable 3D characters and stickers.

However, the company’s priorities have since shifted. As interest in the metaverse concept has cooled, Meta has begun scaling back some related features. As a result, avatars in WhatsApp are now considered non-essential and are being gradually discontinued.

Users’ main profile pictures will remain unchanged, but avatar-based stickers and digital characters will be removed. The exact timeline for the full shutdown has not yet been officially announced, although warning messages are already appearing in the app.

Other profile functions in WhatsApp will not be affected by these changes.

Interestingly, this move reflects a broader trend in the tech industry: many companies that once heavily invested in virtual and augmented reality are now refocusing on more practical AI-driven tools, such as chat assistants and image generation, which are currently seeing much higher user engagement.