WhatsApp at last began the testing phase
of its much predictable and delayed voice calling feature. Certain Reddit
followers have now started posting screenshots of a beta build of WhatsApp’s
Android application with the voice calling feature.
A report by GSM
Arena has pointed out that one Reddit user named pradnesh07 was
able to get the feature activated on his Nexus 5 smartphone operating on
Android v5.0 (Lollipop). Pradnesh07 posted assuring that he was not able to forward invitation to other user; the solitary thing he could certify was that it worked perfectly in India for people operating Android v5.0 (lollipop) on a LG Nexus
5. Indians without the earlier combo wouldn't get it.
According to the images posted, users who got the voice-calling feature will see an icon for it next to the Chats and Contacts tabs. The call interface seems to relatively similar to a phone contact directory. The app keeps a documentation of recent WhatsApp calls as well. Looks like WhatsApp is going slow with the application roll out. For now, one can call only to those who have received the invite from other user. It only helps if you have the latest version of Android v5.0 installed on your smartphone.
WhatsApp also released WhatsApp for web customer
which purely mirrors what’s on your device to the screen. At present
WhatsApp for web is available through the Chrome browser and
also supports Windows Phone, Android and BlackBerry. However, iOS users
cannot operate WhatsApp on web.
WhatsApp’s voice
calling roll out comes soon after Indian rival application Hike rolled out free
voice calling on 2G and 3G for their customers. Of
course in terms of number of user, WhatsApp is far
ahead of its rival. Facebook, which bought WhatsApp last year, recently
exposed that the application has 700 million monthly
active users and that over 30 billion messages are shared on WhatsApp every
day. With voice calling feature coming, it is expected that WhatsApp’s
engagement number will rise further.