WhatsApp Desktop App Gains Support for Voice and Video Calls
WhatsApp is today updating its desktop app for Mac and PC with voice and video calling support, the company announced.
Like WhatsApp's mobile app, voice and video calls on the desktop equivalent are end-to-end encrypted, ensuring only the people conversing have access to the contents of a call.
WhatsApp has been in the process of testing the new desktop call functions over the last few months, so today marks the full rollout of what were previously only experimental features accessible by a select few.
As it stands, one important difference on desktop from the mobile experience is that it isn't yet possible to participate in group calls. Only one-to-one calling is currently supported, although WhatsApp says it intends to add group voice and video calling to desktop in the future.
To use the new video and voice calling features on WhatsApp Desktop, users need to have a mobile WhatsApp account. To learn how to set up WhatsApp on your Mac, be sure to check out our step-by-step guide.
Popular Stories
Popular messaging app WhatsApp is now allowing users to reserve usernames ahead of plans to launch username-based messaging. Right now, WhatsApp uses a person's phone number as an identifier, but usernames will allow people to interact without having to exchange personal information.
Username reservations are rolling out starting this week, and not all users will have access to the...
WhatsApp appears to be introducing a new visual indicator that shows when a contact is online, according to WaBetaInfo.
The feature adds a small green circle to a contact's profile photo when they're active in the app, and which disappears the moment they leave, all updated in real time. The indicator is now being tested for the WhatsApp iPhone app in TestFlight after it debuted on Android...
WhatsApp is developing a first-party cloud storage option for chat backups on iPhone, providing users with an alternative to iCloud for the first time, according to app tinkerer WABetaInfo.
Code found in the WhatsApp beta for iOS (version 26.28.10.16), available through TestFlight, suggests that users will eventually be able to pick their preferred backup destination directly from the app's...
