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WhatsApp starts rolling out voice calling feature to Android users

A number of Android users were able to get the feature activated by receiving a call from a user who had the service

Web Desk February 22, 2015

A number of Android users were able to get the feature activated by receiving a call from a user who had the service. PHOTO: PUBLICITY

NEW DELHI: After previously testing the special feature with select users, popular mobile messaging service Whatsapp is rolling out the much awaited calling functionality to a wider set of people, The Times of India reports.

On Friday, a number of Android Whatsapp users were able to get the voice calling feature activated by simply receiving a call from a user who had the service turned on.

However, this invite system is not working for all users.

After an employee of The Times of India activated the feature on their android, they were able to make voice calls to other Android and Blackberry 10 users with the latest version of the app. However the feature is yet to be activated for all users of the app.

Related: WhatsApp testing out voice calling feature

It's possible that WhatsApp may have set a limit to the number of users one could invite or is only allowing a limited set of users at this time to test its networks.

The feature is not available yet on the iPhone although WhatsApp's recent iOS update had introduced a calling button within the chat window. The feature also doesn't work on Windows Phone hadsets, at the moment.

After activation of the feature, WhatsApp's user interface changes to feature separate screens for dialing a voice call to WhatsApp contacts, call logs and ongoing calls. The chat window also displays a calling button (represented by a phone icon). The active call screen sports buttons for turning on the loudspeaker, switching to the chat window and for muting the call.