NEW YORK: WhatsApp has launched the voice calling feature recently. The new addition of voice calling will make it more competitive with the likes of Skype and Apple’s iMessage. Voice calling is now available on WhatsApp for Android mobile devices only. This is not yet on Google Play but can be downloaded directly from the official website.
Earlier this year messaging platform WhatsApp reached 700 million monthly users, 70 per cent of whom use it on a daily basis. This represents a huge leap in growth for the Facebook-acquired company.
There were 500 million users last April, rising to 600 million by August. Until now, this popularity was based on its text and multimedia messaging.
Considering how popular the app is, and how alarmingly fast it has been growing, it was only a matter of time before this update came along. Most of the updates WhatsApp has received are minor bug fixing patches that don’t stand out that much.
However, in the mist of maintenance updates, there are two updates that stand out due to their massive impact on the app. These are the WhatsApp for Web update and of course, the one that brings us the voice calling feature. This evolution towards VoIP was most likely encouraged by the transition of ownership, as WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook, meaning that it kind of left its old mentality behind, no longer considering itself a simple IM app.
These upgrades to the WhatsApp experience are a token of what the future might hold, if WhatsApp continues to grow in this direction, we can expect more positive changes coming along. For the time being, however, we can sit back and enjoy the new voice calling feature which allows us to communicate with our loved ones easier than ever, because let’s face it, nothing is more “instant” than talking. If you want to give the new voice calling a try, head over and grab the 2.12.16 APK build.
