Facebook-owned messaging platform Whatsapp has launched voice and video calling from the desktop. WhatsApp’s latest update comes as the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the importance of services like Zoom, to hold meetings, group calls between employees during work from home.
“To make desktop calling more useful, we made sure it works seamlessly for both portrait and landscape orientation, appears in a resizable standalone window on your computer screen and is set to be always on top so you never lose your video chats in a browser tab or stack of open windows,” said the company in a blog.
WhatsApp, which was subject to controversies in India over its updated privacy policy, emphasized that its voice and video calls on the desktop are end-to-end encrypted.
The company also said that it will soon expand it to include group calls. However, the company didn’t specify the number of people that can be included in a group call. On WhatsApp mobile app, the group call feature extends to up to eight people.
“We’re starting with one-to-one calls on the WhatsApp desktop app so we make sure we can give you a reliable and high-quality experience. We will be expanding this feature to include group voice and video calls in the future,” said WhatsApp.
WhatsApp had announced its privacy policy update in January, this year, soon after which it faced a lot of backlash from users and was also hit with a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court.
