The WhatsApp that we know now is a complete overhaul of the one that we all fell in love with, which simplified instant messaging (IM) on our phone. That is not to say we love it less, but to emphasize how it has morphed up into a richer instant messaging platform; something that was fast-tracked by the fact its owned by social media giant Facebook.
Beginning May this year, the IM app has teased us with improved Group messaging features. It all began with the ability to add a short blurb on the group description. That was soon followed by the ability to search for particular members within a WhatsApp Group.
Near the end of June, the IM empowered Group admins to restrict messaging by group members who are not admins. That helps to keep information less cluttered, as not everyone can wake up and throw in their own little information. This feature was especially appreciated with people with a busy schedule who don’t have the time to sieve through all the irrelevant information in a Group, just to get what they’re originally there to read.
In 2016, the IM began making their camera feature more robust, and in 2017 went the copy-cat route, by cloning the Snapchat stories; a feature it calls Status. Right now, WhatsApp Status have overtaken Snapchat stories, with the former enjoying about 450 million daily users compared to 191 million for the latter.
It also enjoys over 2 billion minutes of calls per day. The calls (either video or voice) have all along been on one-on-one users, not supporting group calls, until now. WhatsApp has now just launched the ability to make Group calls; both video and voice. This development could be detrimental to other IM services like Skype and Hangout that are popularly used to make Group calls.
To make a Group video or voice call on WhatsApp, you simply dial up a contact, and once the one-on-one call gets connected, you simply add the second participant, then the third, then the fourth. Unfortunately, the Group calls only support a maximum of four contacts talking at one time.