No so long ago, we gave a clear description on how to activate WhatsApp’s Call feature, it was hard and tricky especially for a layman. Today, the company appears to have flipped a few switches in its servers and the function is confirmed to work for those running the latest version 2.11.528 from the Play Store, or 2.11.531 from WhatsApp’s website .
Several users are reporting getting the function activated yesterday once they upgraded, my early experience with WhatsApp calls are not any different from a Skype or Viber call, if you have good data speeds with a good 3G, 4G or WiFi signal. But the voice becomes robotic or with delay/jitter when things go haywire with your mobile signal.
How the call feature works in WhatsApp
On the plus side, calls are well integrated in WhatsApp. The dedicated call tab on the extreme left shows incoming, outgoing, and missed calls with precise timing. Ongoing calls stay in the notification panel until you hang up while missed calls leave a notification that you can later check out. While on a call, you can activate the loudspeaker or mute the microphone. If you open your text chats with any contact, a call button appears in the action bar, right next to the attach icon and the menu, to make it easier to talk to them. And finally, if you click a contact’s avatar, you now get a bigger profile image with the options to message or call them, or view their information.
Get Started
When you’re lucky enough to receive a WhatsApp call from a friend, you can go on enabling the feature by calling your other contacts. If they’re running an older version of the app that doesn’t support it, you will instantly see a message notifying you of that so you can tell them to update their app before you call them. Now all you have to do is cross your fingers and hope that someone shares the riches with you so you can spread them further.
