Back in 2015, Facebook-owned WhatsApp rolled out rolled out voice calling feature for its users. Then in late 2016, the company rolled out video calling as well. And, back in May this year, at its F8 annual developer conference, Facebook confirmed that WhatsApp would soon get group audio and video calling. Well now, after almost three months, WhatsApp has finally started rolling out group audio and video calling feature for its users.
WhatsApp announced the roll-out of group audio and video calling for Android and iPhone users on its blog. With this feature rolling out, WhatsApp users can now talk to multiple people at once – be it a voice call or a video call. Starting a group call is pretty simple. All you have to do is start a one-on-one voice or video call first, and then tap on the “add participant” button located at the top-right corner of the screen. However, do note that the maximum number of people that can participate in a group audio or video call is four.
WhatsApp has said that just like the messages, these group calls are end-to-end encrypted, which means theoretically, no one other than the people participating in the group calls can listen and see what you are talking.
Having said that, apart from announcing the roll-out of group calling for all Android and iPhone users, WhatsApp also announced that its users spend over 2 Billion minutes on calls every day. Furthermore, WhatsApp also said that the group calling feature is designed to “work reliably around the world in different network conditions”.
Also Read: WhatsApp now lets users switch between one-on-one voice and video calls quickly
Even though WhatsApp has made the official announcement of the roll-out of group calling for Android and iPhone users just now, the feature has been available for both Android and iPhone users since late May, but it was only available for select users.
This group calling feature is rolling out to both Android and iPhone users around the world. If you don’t see it yet, make sure you are using the latest version of the app.
Download Link: WhatsApp for Android | WhatsApp for iPhone