WhatsApp is widely rolling out voice chats, simplifying group communication by initiating group calls silently without interrupting everyone else. This feature is available to everyone after updating to the latest versions of WhatsApp for iOS and Android, and it’s currently rolled out for large groups.
| Common questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Name of the feature? | Voice chats |
| Status? | Rolling out |
| Compatibility? | Latest versions of WhatsApp for iOS and Android are marked as compatible updates. |
| I have updated my version of WhatsApp but I don’t have this features. Why? | This feature is rolling out to everyone over the coming days. |
| Previous news? | WhatsApp news of the week: secret code feature for locked chats and channel username! |
In the article about the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.16.19 update, we announced a new feature available to some beta testers: voice chats. With this feature, WhatsApp is making it easier for users to communicate in their group chats, introducing a new way to start voice calls by sending silent push notifications without interrupting everyone else in the group. After installing the latest versions of WhatsApp for iOS from the App Store and the TestFlight app, and WhatsApp for Android from the Google Play Store, WhatsApp is widely rolling out this feature to everyone!
As you can see in this screenshot, voice chats brings a completely fresh experience to WhatsApp calling, simplifying connections for everyone at a later time. Anyone can join voice chats in their groups at any time and start speaking, without ringing everyone else in the group chat. If the voice chat remains empty for 60 minutes, it will be automatically ended, but anyone can still start a new voice chat at any time. The feature was first announced in the Will Cathcart‘s official channel and then WhatsApp shared the same announcement on their channel. It’s worth noting that this feature is also widely available on WhatsApp for Android, even though the screenshot is taken from WhatsApp for iOS.
Voice chats offer a significant advantage: they allow calls to begin without ringing each member’s phone in the group. Specifically, every group member will receive a silent push notification when a voice chat is initiated. Group members not in the outgoing voice chat can see who is active in the call from the chat header and the Calls tab, and it’s possible to join and leave the call at any time. It’s important to note that voice chats are also protected by end-to-end encryption, ensuring that only those members involved in the call can listen to its content. As mentioned in our first article, this feature is available for those groups of 33 to 128 members, although WhatsApp has also experimented with this feature with small groups during the beta-testing phase. In addition, it is not currently available on linked devices.
The voice chat feature for large groups is available after installing the latest versions of WhatsApp for iOS from the App Store and WhatsApp for Android from the Google Play Store, and it’s rolling out to more users over the coming days.
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