Skip to main content
The homepageVoxVox logo
The homepageVoxVox logo

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

WhatsApp is adding FaceTime-style video calls

The new feature is for iOS, Android and even Windows phone.

by Kurt Wagner
Crowds Gather In New York To Watch Election Results From Across The Country
Crowds Gather In New York To Watch Election Results From Across The Country
Michael Reaves/Getty Images

WhatsApp video calling has arrived.

The Facebook-owned messaging app added FaceTime-style video chats in an app update on Tuesday. The feature only supports one-to-one calls at the moment, but all messages are end-to-end encrypted, just like WhatsApp’s text and voice calls.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp’s move into video messaging is not a surprise given the number of other companies offering alternative features. Apple, Google, Snapchat and even Facebook Messenger already have some sort of video messaging functionality.

While WhatsApp may not be early to the party, the company has a reputation for doing few things, but doing them very well. Video calling will be no exception, promised Manpreet Singh, WhatsApp’s lead software engineer, but he added that the call quality will be highly dependent on each user’s available bandwidth. This will be key given that many of WhatsApp’s one billion users live in emerging markets like Brazil and India, where wireless networks are often poor.

“Not a lot of [our users] are techies; they are people who want to use WhatsApp for daily communication,” Singh told Recode. “For them, simplicity is really important.”

The new feature will be available soon on iOS, Android and Windows phone.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

See More:

Most Popular

  1. Donald Trump messed with the wrong pope
  2. Take a mental break with the newest Vox crossword
  3. The Supreme Court could legalize moonshine, and ruin everything else
  4. The Air Quality Index and how to use it, explained
  5. Obama’s top Iran negotiator on Trump’s screwups
    Podcast

More in Technology

Technology
The case for AI realismThe case for AI realism
Technology

AI isn’t going to be the end of the world — no matter what this documentary sometimes argues.

By Shayna Korol
Politics
OpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agendaOpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agenda
Politics

The AI company released a set of highly progressive policy ideas. There’s just one small problem.

By Eric Levitz
Future Perfect
Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.
Future Perfect

Protecting astronauts in space — and maybe even Mars — will help transform health on Earth.

By Shayna Korol
Podcasts
The importance of space toilets, explainedThe importance of space toilets, explained
Podcast
Podcasts

Houston, we have a plumbing problem.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram
Technology
What happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputerWhat happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputer
Technology

How they’re using AI at the lab that created the atom bomb.

By Joshua Keating
Future Perfect
Humanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious missionHumanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious mission
Future Perfect

Space barons like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk don’t seem religious. But their quest to colonize outer space is.

By Sigal Samuel