You may now join a group video or voice call on WhatsApp after it’s started and was missed initially. The popular messaging platform owned by Facebook has started rolling out this – joinable group calls – feature, which will help users join a group call even if they initially miss a call when their phone rings.
The all-new update, as per the company, also brings an easy way to let you drop-off and rejoin a group WhatsApp call — as long as the call is still ongoing. Up until now, WhatsApp users were not given a native option to join a group call. However, participants in an active call could add members during a voice or video call on the platform.
In a blog post, WhatsApp said that joinable calls reduce the burden of answering a group call as it starts and bring the spontaneity and ease of in-person conversations to group calling on the platform. You will see a Tap to join option in the call log on WhatsApp to join an ongoing group call even if it was missed originally. All you need to do is to just hit that option to join the call.
The instant messaging platform has also created a new call info screen that will allow users to see who all have been invited for the conversation but not yet joined. You can also look at the active participants of the call from the call info screen instead of getting their details after joining the call. Besides, the call info screen has an Ignore button to let you ignore a call and join it later from the Calls tab in WhatsApp.
Earlier, WhatsApp was spotted testing joinable calls on the platform. WhatsApp for iOS beta version 2.21.140.11 carried the new experience for iPhone users. It also included the call screen that looked similar to Apple’s FaceTime interface. Shortly after the iOS release, it brought joinable calls to beta testers on Android. The overall experience looks similar on both iOS and Android versions.
Although WhatsApp has not provided exact details on when you’ll get joinable calls on your phone, it is expected to arrive on the latest versions of WhatsApp for Android and iOS soon.
WhatsApp came up with group calling feature in 2018. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the adoption of group calls increased like never before due to social distancing norms.