{"id":41852,"date":"2021-03-04T15:03:46","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T15:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/?guid=9b787a730c2883bddc9a9b89a9b9f4f7"},"modified":"2021-03-04T15:03:46","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T15:03:46","slug":"whatsapp-adds-voice-and-video-calling-to-desktop-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/whatsapp-adds-voice-and-video-calling-to-desktop-app\/","title":{"rendered":"WhatsApp adds voice and video calling to desktop app"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n Sabina Weston<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
4 Mar, 2021<\/span><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

WhatsApp<\/a> has updated its desktop<\/a> app with new video and voice calling features, adapting its offering to the age of remote working.<\/p>\n

The new tools will make it easier for users to answer or make calls directly from their computers, without having to reach for their mobile phones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In order to enable desktop calling, users will be asked to grant WhatsApp permission to access their computer\u2019s microphone and camera. They will also need to own an operating system<\/a> no older than Windows 10 64-bit version 1903 or macOS 10.13.<\/p>\n

Desktop video calls will also work \u201cseamlessly for both portrait and landscape orientation\u201d, appearing in a resizable standalone window.<\/p>\n

A company spokesperson told us that the desktop app will be linked to users\u2019 mobile app, with conversations still being based on phone numbers and requiring an active internet connection on the computer and phone alike. Although the call won\u2019t go through the user\u2019s phone, it will need the phone to be online to establish the call.<\/p>\n

WhatsApp Business<\/a> app users will also be able to make desktop calls, the company\u2019s spokesperson added. However, group calls will not be supported on WhatsApp Desktop for the time being.<\/p>\n

The company also announced that, on New Year\u2019s Eve, it had broken \u201cthe record for the most calls ever made in a single day with 1.4 billion voice and video calls\u201d.<\/p>\n

The announcement comes almost a year after reports<\/a> that the company was trialling a beta version of WhatsApp Web, which would let users create a group video call using Facebook Messenger Rooms. The feature, which was spotted as one of the shortcuts in the beta\u2019s WhatsApp menus in the 2.2019.6 Web update, would allow users to make calls with up to 50 people – a significant increase from the eight-way video calls<\/a> which came with WhatsApp\u2019s April 2020 update.<\/p>\n

April of last year also saw the release of Facebook\u2019s Messenger Rooms<\/a>, which was launched in an attempt to capitalise on the heightened demand for video conferencing<\/a> during the pandemic lockdown. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sabina Weston<\/p>\n

4 Mar, 2021 <\/p>\n

WhatsApp has updated its desktop app with new video and voice calling features, adapting its offering to the age of remote working.
\nThe new tools will make it easier for users to answer or make …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/627"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41852"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41853,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41852\/revisions\/41853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}