Maya Robertson
WhatsApp today announced the introduction of end-to-end encrypted voice and video calling for its desktop app.
“Last New Year’s Eve, we broke the record for the most calls ever made in a single day with 1.4 billion voice and video calls. With so many people still apart from their loved ones, and adjusting to new ways of working, we want conversations on WhatsApp to feel as close to in-person as possible, regardless of where you are in the world or the tech you’re using.” the company said.
WhatsApp first launched the feature to a small group of people in December and with today’s launch the feature is now available to all WhatsApp users on desktop.
The feature has end-to-end encryption like the existing feature on the mobile apps.
For now, the voice and video calling on the desktop app will only support one-to-one calling, not group calls. “We will be expanding this feature to include group voice and video calls in the future.” WhatsApp says.
“Answering on a bigger screen makes it easier to work with colleagues, see your family more clearly on a bigger canvas, or free up your hands to move around a room while talking. To make desktop calling more useful, we made sure it works seamlessly for both portrait and landscape orientation, appears in a resizable standalone window on your computer screen, and is set to be always on top so you never lose your video chats in a browser tab or stack of open windows.”
WABetaInfo revealed a couple of days ago WhatsApp is also working on ‘self-destructing’ photos. If the feature is made live, users will be able to post photos that will disappear as they leave the chat.
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