WhatsApp is an amazing app, one of the best Instant Messaging years since a few past years. After Facebook bought it last year, there has been a lot of changes. The users of WhatsApp Plus were banned from using WhatsApp, and it is now even supported by the desktop browsers. All changes are for good only, and some months ago, Facebook had announced that the call facility will be enabled in WhatsApp for its users. It took quite a time for the company to integrate the feature in the app though. The feature was enable since last month in the app, but it required an invite to activate the feature. Now, with the latest update of the app, the users can enable voice calling feature in WhatsApp easily, without even requiring a gimmicky invite or anything like that.
Here, we are giving you a guide on how to enable voice calling feature in WhatsApp, for both invite required (it is not so relevant though, but still, in case you need a reference), and for the latest app.
If your app version requires an invite (for older version):
- Update your WhatsApp app to at least v2.11.561.
- Get someone who already has the WhatsApp voice calling feature enabled to call you.
- Once you answer the call, three tabs will appear at the top of your WhatsApp interface – calls, chats and contacts. This means voice calling has been enabled.
For the newest version of the app:
The WhatsApp in your Android device might have been updated recently, pushing its version to v2.12.19. If you have turned off auto update of apps in your device, turn it on or update the app manually. The latest updated version will not require anything to enable the voice calling feature. If you have your app updated, you will be able to see three windows in the app- which are Calls, Chats and Contacts respectively, just like shown in the picture above. As usual, the Chat section has all your messages, and the Contacts section has all your contacts listed, but only those who have their WhatsApp activated. The ‘Call’ section will be new to you, and it is what is important for the calling feature. Follow these steps for the guidelines:
- In your Contact or chat list, tap on any of them.
- After you enter, on your right top, you will see the call button alongside the attachment option.
- Tap the button, and you can call your contact via the WhatsApp.
- You can see all the contacts that you have recently called on the Call tab, and you can call them again from there. To make the first call, you will have to go to the Contact or Chat section though, since it is not possible from the Call tab.
Note that the contact you want to call will require to have an working internet connection (the same is for you too), and will also have to be online in the app. The connection for the call feature will have to be little faster than just the message, since the calling feature requires a lot of data to load. If your connection is slow, you will notice that the voice will not be clear.
With this voice calling feature enabled in the latest version of WhatsApp, we would also like to see the video calling feature enabled in the app. However, we don’t think it will happen anytime soon, since Facebook has not said a word about it, and there are not even the rumors circulating. We will update about anything happening in the future, so do not forget to stay tuned.
Have you already started calling your friends or family using the WhatsApp? Do you think it will replace the popular calling apps like Viber and others? Feel free to state your opinion in the comment section below..
