WhatsApp today launched Joinable Calls, a new feature that lets people connect to video chats—even after they’ve started.
Whether you’re otherwise engaged or simply didn’t hear the phone ring, you can now join an ongoing call at any point in the discussion.
The idea, according to WhatsApp, is to “reduce the burden” of immediately answering the call, and to bring “the spontaneity and ease of in-person conversations” to group chats. “Some of the best conversations happen when you least expect it,” the company says. “Now, if someone in your group misses a call when the phone rings, they can still join whenever they like.”
Folks can drop in and out of the conversation at their leisure—to take a bathroom break, attend to something, or swap devices, for instance; you can return as long as the video is still going.
Joinable Calls is rolling out today to iOS and Android WhatsApp users. To kick off a group video call, simply open the relevant chat, and press the camera icon; groups with nine or more people are limited to phone calls only. The quality of calls will depend on the contact with the weakest connection; each member has the option to turn off their video while staying on the line.
The Facebook-owned messaging service began testing video calls in 2016. Last April, in the early days of the global pandemic, it doubled the number of participants from four to eight. At the time, WhatsApp was one of a few mainstream chat apps that offered end-to-end encryption on video calls, blocking the prying eyes of hackers, governments, and corporations.
