Last year, there were numerous hints and reports that WhatsApp, the popular instant messaging app for smartphones and mobile devices, would be introducing a service that would allow users to call each other for free. It was reported nearly every quarter throughout 2014 that such a feature would be implemented, but nothing came to fruition.
This week, it was discovered that WhatsApp would be rolling out a voice over internet protocol or VoIP feature very soon. For the time being, however, it will only be for a select number of users based upon an invite. Ostensibly, a screenshot was posted on Reddit by user pradnesh07 over the weekend and revealed how the Calls functionality looks on a Nexus 5 device running on Android’s Lollipop.
Users were enthusiastic when a new tab named “Calls” is added as a tab as well as the current “Chats” and “Contacts” options. It has been likened to Skype’s web-based calls connections, which would place WhatsApp in direct competition with Skype, Line and Viber, brands that provide free communications tools for users.
“The guy who sent me the invite confirmed that it works on other phones on other roms and other OS and in other countries. I am not sure how the invite thing works as yet,” the user wrote on the popular social media outlet. “There is no use asking me for invites right now, I don’t know how this invite thing works exactly.”
Many of the details released by pradnesh07 were deleted because there were personal details revealed. However, there is a video available to watch to showcase the latest feature from WhatsApp.
Analysts say that the largest instant messaging service’s free VoIP could very well be a thorn in the side of some of the world’s biggest telecommunications firms, many of which are competing in the spectrum auction next month, something that requires a vast sum of money to be paid to the government.
The Facebook-owned app, which currently maintains 700 million users worldwide, has not officially announced its VoIP feature, but a WhatsApp spokesperson told CNET: “We are rolling out a voice calling beta test to a small number of people, but we don’t have anything more to share right now.”
Although Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook acquired WhatsApp in a massive $22 billion deal last year, he has gone on record as saying that he is currently unsure how to monetize the instant messaging service.
WhatsApp made headlines late last month when it was announced that the app was available on a web browser. Users simply head over to Web.WhatsApp.com, open WhatsApp, click a button that says “WhatsApp Web” and use their phone’s camera to snap a photo of the QR code.
This move is being celebrated because many people prefer to use a keyboard for composing messages rather than a smartphone. Furthermore, it’s easier to save images and videos on their computers. This also benefits office workers because employees can receive WhatsApp alerts on their computers, which means they won’t be on their mobile devices all day.
