WhatsApp Rolls Out New Calling Features Ahead of Holiday Season

WhatsApp update: Meta-owned messaging app, WhatsApp, has rolled out a bunch of new features to its platform ahead of upcoming holiday season. The company today announced four new features that are aimed at improving the overall calling experience in the app.

"...over 2 billion calls are made on WhatsApp every single day. Ahead of the holiday season, we’re introducing new calling features across desktop and mobile, so that connecting with your loved ones is easier than ever," WhatsApp wrote.

WhatsApp update: Select Call Participants feature

The first feature that the company has announced enables users to select specific participants from a group for calling. Up until now when users initiated a call from a group, all the participants would get connected to the call. However, with this update, users will be able to call specific participants from a group without disturbing the others.

WhatsApp update: Effects for Video Calls

In addition to this, WhatsApp is also improving the video calling experience in the app. The company has added 10 effects, including puppy ears and glasses, which the users can add while making a video call in the app.

WhatsApp update: Improved Desktop Calling Interface

Additionally, WhatsApp has also improved the calling interface on desktop. WhatsApp says that now users will find all the calling related features including the option to start a call, create a call link, or dial a number, under the calls tab on WhatsApp's desktop app.

Lastly, the company has improved the video quality in one-on-one and group calls on its platform.

It is worth noting that these new features come shortly after the Meta-owned messaging app got the Voice Message Transcript feature. This feature gives users a transcription of the voice message that they have received in a chat. This feature can be manually turned by opening the Chat Settings and toggling on the Voice Message Transcripts feature. Once enabled, users just need to tap the Transcribe button at the bottom of a voice note to get its transcription.