WhatsApp Desktop App Gets Voice + Video Calling Features - Android

In the latest update, WhatsApp is rolling out voice and video calling functionalities to its desktop application. This would come as a relief for users using WhatsApp right from their desktops. Notably, this would also negate the need of reaching over the phone every time you need to place a WhatsApp voice or video call. [...]

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The post WhatsApp Desktop App Gets Voice & Video Calling Features appeared first on Android Headlines.

In the latest update, WhatsApp is rolling out voice and video calling functionalities to its desktop application. This would come as a relief for users using WhatsApp right from their desktops.

Notably, this would also negate the need of reaching over the phone every time you need to place a WhatsApp voice or video call. WhatsApp users can now simply make calls from the desktop application whenever they want.

Until now, this feature was available for the mobile app. Thankfully, the five-year-old desktop app for Windows and MacOS is now getting one-to-one calling support.

In the future, it will expand over to group voice and video calls. A few lucky WhatsApp desktop testers were able to see the call and video chat icons marked "Beta" in the chat header. Now, it is finally available as a stable feature for everyone.

In the official blog, WhatsApp stated that it has seen "significant increases in people calling one another on WhatsApp, often for long conversations."

This shouldn't come as a surprise. Because as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic came over, people were stuck at home and were relying on video and voice calls to get the whereabouts of their loved ones.

WhatsApp desktop calling works seamlessly for both portrait and landscape orientation

Just like on the mobile app, WhatsApp desktop calling will be end-to-end encrypted. Moreover, to provide a seamless experience, WhatsApp desktop calling will work in both portrait and landscape modes.

Further, the WhatsApp desktop calling window will appear in a resizable window on your PC. It will always stay on top of other windows so that you never lose your video calling behind multiple browser tabs.

By offering a video calling feature on the desktop, users will be able to view their loved ones on the bigger screen. Additionally, it also frees the hands of the user while video calling so that the user can do other tasks while being on a call.

In order to be eligible to use this new calling feature on the desktop, you need to make sure that you are running Windows 10 64-bit version 1903 and newer or macOS 10.13 or above.

You also need to make sure that you have given sufficient permissions like access to your computer's microphone and camera. WhatsApp needs access to your PC's mic and camera to place video calls.

This is a nice move by Facebook-owned WhatsApp, as people are spending more hours on their PCs. And for placing video calls, they used to switch over to alternatives like Zoom or Google Meet for video calling.

But now, with the video calling feature on the WhatsApp desktop app, users will stick to WhatsApp for their messaging and calling needs.

The post WhatsApp Desktop App Gets Voice & Video Calling Features appeared first on Android Headlines.