The company launches video links in WhatsApp

Sep 27, 2022 14:45 GMT  ·  By

WhatsApp has announced a new feature that makes it a lot easier to invite someone to a video call.

The new feature, called Call Links, allows users to create links that when clicked by their contacts make it possible to directly join a video call without the need of any other steps.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, the video calling support has also been upgraded to 32 participants, something that makes perfect sense given that similar capabilities are already available in the majority of messaging apps out there.

At this point, however, the provided information on Call Links is still rather limited.

“We're rolling out call links on WhatsApp starting this week so you can share a link to start a call with a single tap. We're also testing secure encrypted video calling for up to 32 people. More coming soon,” Zuckerberg said in a brief announcement on Facebook.

Rollout projected to start this week for all users out there

Head of WhatsApp Will Cathcart also announced the feature on Twitter, explaining that the rollout would begin this week for all users across the world.

“Excited to introduce Call Links on @WhatsApp so you can easily start or join a call using just a link. Available for both audio and video calls starting this week,” he tweeted.

Needless to say, the feature is neither innovative nor an original idea. Similar capabilities are also live in other applications – for example, Microsoft’s Skype allows users to join a call without even having an account; this makes it ideal for quick calls between two users, especially if one of them doesn’t have a Microsoft account.

Obviously, the new Call Links feature will go live on both iPhone and Android devices, with the rollout to therefore kick off in the coming days for everyone across the world.