Today, WhatsApp begins its first rollout of a highly-anticipated feature: in-app voice calling.
The new feature – dubbed, perhaps unsurprisingly, WhatsApp Calling – is a result of prior promises from WhatsApp executives (from February, last year) that in-app voice call functionality would soon arrive across all platforms. Android users are able – as of right now – to get a first taste of the new feature by updating to WhatsApp 2.12.19 directly from the WhatsApp website.
Previously, the feature has been locked in an invite-only testing period, which has apparently been limited to users in India, and required a user already using the voice-calling function to contact another without it to unlock full use the new feature. Presently, updating from WhatsApp’s own website is the only way to unlock WhatsApp Calling, as the latest version available for download from Google’s Play Store does not support it.
To enable WhatsApp Calling, complete the following process:
- Navigate to WhatsApp.com on a desktop computer
- Click through and download WhatsApp for Android (19mb)
- Connect an Android phone by USB
- Drag and drop the WhatsApp.apk file anywhere onto either Phone or SD Card storage
- On an Android phone, open the file manager
- Find and open “WhatsApp.apk”
- If prompted, go to settings and select “Allow installation of apps from sources other than Google Play Store”, under “Unknown sources”, in Security.
- Allow WhatsApp.apk to update
- Open the app. Done!
Once installed, the updated app now displays three tabs, namely Calls, Chats and Contacts. To make a call, a users need to tap the small phone icon at the top-right-hand of the screen, and then select a contact to call. Information below shows a call registry in the same manner as either a native phone app would, or how chats on the WhatsApp platform are displayed.
WhatsApp cofounder Brian Acton has made public announcements, stating thatWhatsApp Calling would arrive on Android within coming weeks.
Follow Bryan on Twitter: @bryansmith1138
