What you need to know
- WhatsApp for macOS now supports video and audio calls.
- Sadly, the feature doesn't support group calling yet.
WhatsApp has been updated on macOS to bring support for video and audio calls on desktop, making it one of the best messaging apps on Mac.
As reported by TechCrunch:
WhatsApp is rolling out support for voice and video calling to its desktop app, the Facebook-owned messaging service said Thursday, providing relief to countless people sitting in front of computers who have had to reach for their phone every time their WhatsApp rang.For now, WhatsApp said its nearly five-year-old desktop app for Mac and Windows will only support one-to-one calls for now, but that it will be expanding this feature to include group voice and video calls "in the future."
Calls will reportedly work "seamlessly" between portrait and landscape, and the desktop client will remain "always on top" so you don't lose your call screen behind any of your other windows.
The new feature isn't being extended to WhatsApp Web, the browser-based version, and as mentioned will not support group calling, only one-to-one calls.
Pushing the platform to compete with apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp added support for video calls of up to eight people early last year. From that report:
WhatsApp is now rolling out group video and voice chats for up to eight people across both iOS and Android.WhatsApp expanded group calling to eight people in its beta on April 21, after previously announcing support for up to four people.Now, group video and voice calling for you and seven friends has been released to the general public on both iOS and Android. According to the app's iOS release notes for version 2.20.50:Group video and voice calls now support up to 8 participants. All participants need to be on the latest version of WhatsApp.
