Move over Viber, WhatsApp can make calls now, too

By Andre Revilla April 21, 2015

1176856 autosave v1 whatsapp phone feature — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Watch out, Viber! WhatsApp, which just reached 800 million users, is rolling out voice calling for its app on iOS. Users of the popular app will now be able to call their friends and loved ones on iOS devices. Android users have already had this feature for a little while and it has gone swimmingly. Just like the release on Android, WhatsApp will not make this feature available to all iPhones simultaneously, but will instead roll out the new addition in waves over the next few weeks.

The newly updated version of the app has a number of new features worth boasting about. WhatsApp 2.12.1 has new iOS 8 compatibility updates that allow the app to share photos, videos, and links to other apps with a sharing button. It also added a “quick camera button” that allows the user to capture photos and videos, and to more quickly select a recent camera roll, photo, or video. You’ll also now be able to crop and rotate photos before sending them, as well as send multiple videos at once.

It seems that the competition around communication apps is heating up. Where Skype once had the popular vote on communicating with loved ones from afar, Viber came in and released a streamlined product for audio calls only. There’s no telling who will be the last app standing once the dust settles, but we are excited to try the new calling feature.

Update your WhatsApp today, but remember it may take a few weeks for the new feature to roll out to all users.

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Andre Revilla is an entrepreneur and writer from Austin, TX that has been working in and covering the consumer tech space for…

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