WhatsApp Calls On Web And Desktop Now Available In Beta

When it comes to Facebook's instant messaging services, its own Messenger and Instagram are probably the most known. That said, there are definitely people and even businesses that rely on that other major messaging platform, WhatsApp. Like Instagram, WhatsApp has mostly been very phone-centric to the point that you couldn't use it anywhere else. Those days are slowly numbered and the latest beta feature will be bringing feature parity with WhatsApp on the desktop.

It is already possible to use WhatsApp on computers, either via a web browser or the desktop client. These developments rode on the tide of messaging services embracing devices beyond phones and tablets but not all of them can be considered equal. WhatsApp, in particular, only supports text messages.

That's fine for the majority of WhatsApp's most basic use case but these days have seen the rise of voice and especially video calls being made over the Internet and on desktops and laptops. This can become an inconvenience for WhatsApp users who have to pick up their phones to make or even just receive calls from the platform. Fortunately, that's changing soon.

WABetaInfo reports that WhatsApp has started rolling out beta support for making and taking such calls from the web or desktop programs. The buttons for these functions appear at the top of a chat, alongside the search and menu icons. Receiving a call or starting one will pop up a separate window for the activity, leaving you free to use the app for sending messages.

Support for WhatsApp voice and video calls on the Web and Desktop is still a beta feature but it's slowly rolling out to more users for testing. How long it will take before it becomes available for all is still anyone's guess but, considering the growing volume of calls over the Internet, the company shouldn't take too long to roll it out completely.