Like many apps, WhatsApp offers a beta program for about 30 billion users to try out features that are still in development. But recently, some Android users have noticed an alarming bug in the latest beta of the popular messaging service that rendered the app useless

In the latest beta, the option to remove the preset chat filter, the option to use interactive stickers for status updates. Some notable features have been added, such as the option to search within a channel on Android and the option to search within a channel on Android. But while it's fun to check out experimental new features ahead of the full release, it obviously comes with some risks as developers are discovering potential bugs.

As Android Police first discovered, users of WhatsApp Beta version 2.24.24.5 have reported an issue where they see a solid green block when they try to open a chat, making the app unusable. Excellent people from Android Police have encountered similar issues with app force-termination at startup, despite repeated attempts to restart the app.

Thankfully, the bug seems to be isolated to beta 2.24.24.5. The app should keep running smoothly with the latest stable build, so the solution for now seems to be uninstalling the beta version and using the latest stable version from the Google Play Store instead.

Some users report that typical fixes such as restarting the phone, clearing the cache, and forcing the app to stop are not enough to do this trick.This means that it is a fundamental bug that developers need to deal with. Given the number of users reporting problems on social media, app developers are aware of the bug and are likely to roll out fixes soon.