WhatsApp Rolls Out Calling Updates for Desktop and Mobile - MacRumors
Skip to Content

WhatsApp Rolls Out Calling Updates for Desktop and Mobile

WhatsApp has announced some improvements to its calling features across desktop and mobile platforms ahead of the holiday season, such as the ability to choose participants from group chats, use new effects on calls, and take advantage of higher resolution video.

whatsapp calling updates
The ability to select specific participants when initiating a call from a group chat aims to let users avoid disturbing the entire group, and could be helpful for coordinating surprise events or private discussions within larger group contexts.

The update also brings ten new video effects to make calls more fun and engaging, ranging from playful puppy ear filters to underwater themes and karaoke microphone effects.

In addition, WhatsApp says desktop users will benefit from a reorganized calls interface that should streamline the process of starting calls, creating call links, or dialing numbers directly from the desktop app. Lastly, the Meta-owned company has also enhanced video call quality across both one-on-one and group calls, regardless of whether users are connecting from desktop or mobile devices.

Popular Stories

Whatsapp Feature

WhatsApp Now Lets You Reserve a Username

Monday June 29, 2026 4:01 pm PDT by
Popular messaging app WhatsApp is now allowing users to reserve usernames ahead of plans to launch username-based messaging. Right now, WhatsApp uses a person's phone number as an identifier, but usernames will allow people to interact without having to exchange personal information. Username reservations are rolling out starting this week, and not all users will have access to the...
Whatsapp Feature

WhatsApp Beta Adds Green Dot to Show Who's Online

Monday July 6, 2026 3:56 am PDT by
WhatsApp appears to be introducing a new visual indicator that shows when a contact is online, according to WaBetaInfo. The feature adds a small green circle to a contact's profile photo when they're active in the app, and which disappears the moment they leave, all updated in real time. The indicator is now being tested for the WhatsApp iPhone app in TestFlight after it debuted on Android...
Whatsapp Feature

WhatsApp Beta Reveals iCloud Backup Alternative for iPhone

Tuesday July 14, 2026 3:06 am PDT by
WhatsApp is developing a first-party cloud storage option for chat backups on iPhone, providing users with an alternative to iCloud for the first time, according to app tinkerer WABetaInfo. Code found in the WhatsApp beta for iOS (version 26.28.10.16), available through TestFlight, suggests that users will eventually be able to pick their preferred backup destination directly from the app's...

Top Rated Comments

contacos Avatar
21 months ago
Where is the iPad support that was already in a WhatsApp Beta 2! summer ago!!!!
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Xade Avatar
21 months ago
l just want an ipad app. Don't care about all the bells and whistles. Oh, and getting the watch app back would be good too!
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BigTimEnergy Avatar
21 months ago
Remember USA, the rest of the world actually uses WhatsApp.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
21 months ago
Don’t care. Just release an iPad app already!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
techpr Avatar
21 months ago

and Americans are not using WhatsApp because no one they know uses it.

It's the network effect keeping Americans on iMessage/SMS, and Europeans/some Asians on WhatsApp
I fixed it for you.

Americans on iMessage/SMS, and the rest of the world on WhatsApp
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
21 months ago

Yup, and we still can't figure out how the "rest of the world" got scammed into it! It is free because Zuck hoovers up your data and sells it! Let that sink in.

This is precisely why there isn't an iPad app, if its not tied to a phone you don't get as much data hoovering goodness.
Honestly, it's a fair price for a good service, and not an uncommon price in today's digital world. Whatsapp offers a lot of advantages over SMS, which pretty much makes it a necessity unless:

a. everyone you know has an iPhone/imesssage
b. everyone you know is local
c. you don't travel
d. you have a really good roaming/international service plan

Most people in the world don't meet those criteria. And most of the Americans saying that they won't use Whatsapp due to privacy concerns are using Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, various Google services, and TikTok!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)