According to a Facebook post made by Meta co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, WhatsApp will be rolling out a new feature this week that will allow users to both start and join calls in the app via links.
The feature – named “Call Links” – can be used for both audio and video calls in WhatsApp, enabling users to join a call at any time so long as they have been given a link.
Previously, users already in a call would have to add participants manually, or tap the “ring” button to send additional notifications to those that were already invited but did not join the call.
The “Call Links” feature will be available in the “Calls” tab after rollout, but WhatsApp users will need to have the latest app version for the option to appear.
Unfortunately, the feature will not allow users to schedule calls in advance like how Apple’s FaceTime or Zoom does.
Zuckerberg also mentioned that the company has begun testing secure encrypted group video calls with up to 32 participants for WhatsApp as well.
Previously, the messaging service unveiled its “Communities” feature back in April this year, which started gradually rolling out to Malaysians in the middle of last month.