Apple users can from now on perform voice calls using WhatsApp. The feature was already available for Android since last month.
This service will be available on the 1.12.1 version of iOS. The Apple itunes store says that you can call your family and friends in other countries for free. Instead of using your minutes to make a phone call WhatsApp enables you to use the internet connection of your phone. It is also mentioned that data charges may be applied and users are warned that in the next couple of weeks WhatsApp Calling may roll out slowly.
It took quite some time for WhatsApp to make this move, but it seems that it had something to do with iOS itself and not with the app. It may take some time before the app will be available for all the users, but several weeks will however be quicker than the Android deployment.
WhatsApp will provide a series of other updates which include the possibility of sending photos, videos and links to WhatsApp from other apps. Inside the chat there will be a Quick Camera button which will make it easier to record videos. In addition photos can be taken quickly inside chats and you can send more than one video or photo at a time. Moreover you have the possibility to crop and rotate photos before sending them. A big innovation will be the fact that you will be allowed to edit the contact list right from WhatsApp. Consequently there won’t be as many clashes between WhatsApp Contacts and Phone Contacts so you won’t have to deal with nameless contacts.
All these updates come just after WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum has announced that they have gathered 800 million users:
“WhatsApp – now serving 800,000,000 monthly active users. Reminder for the press out there: active and registered users are not the same thing.”
The difference between registered and active users lies in the fact that the monthly active users represent user engagement on the service. With 800 million active users WhatsApp is second after Facebook which has over 1 billion monthly active users.
This represents a great success for the company. In January it was announced that they had 700 million active users per month. Taking into account the new announcement this means that in 4 moths WhatsApp has gathered 100 million monthly users.
Image Source: Digital Trends
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