With more and more people using WhatsApp (the app reached 100 million U.S. users in July), parent company Meta has been working to add in more functionality, in order to capitalize on renewed interest in its privacy-focused messaging app.
But it’s not just DMs that WhatsApp’s facilitating. According to Meta, WhatsApp now also hosts more than 2 billion audio and video calls every day.
That’s a lot of expanded connection, and today, ahead of the holiday surge, WhatsApp has announced some improvements to its calling features to help more people connect during the festive season.
First off, WhatsApp’s adding the capacity to select call participants when you start an audio call from a group chat.
As you can see in this example, now, you’ll be able to simply tick and untick which participants you want to include in your audio/video chat, as opposed to simply inviting everyone.
As per WhatsApp:
“Now when you start a call from a group chat, you can select specific participants, so you call exactly who you want without disrupting the rest. Ideal for planning surprise parties or presents.”
Of course, that might also make people feel excluded too, so be careful how you use it. But it could have a range of use cases for more in-the-moment connection.
WhatsApp says that it’s also improved the quality of its video calls, with higher resolution playback for both direct and group chats.
It’s also adding new effects for your video calls, much like Snapchat filters (even including puppy ears).
Finally, WhatsApp’s also improving its desktop calling process, with more info on the “Calls” tab in the WhatsApp desktop app:
“You’ll easily find everything you need to start a call, create a call link, or dial a number directly.”
Some handy updates, and again, with more people using WhatsApp to connect, in more ways, these features will definitely see usage during the holidays and beyond.
