With no small delay compared to the competition, finally WhatsApp allows its users to choose when to participate in a group video call.
Giuseppe Croce Journalist
Peppe Croce, journalist since 2008, deals with electronic devices and new technologies applied to the automotive world. He joined Libero Tecnologia in 2018.
It may seem like a small novelty, but only in theory because in practice it will be an extremely convenient feature for everyone: WhatsApp has launched the “Joinable Group Videocalls”, that is, group video calls in which we can enter even at a later time.
An eventuality that is anything but remote, given that it is very frequent to receive a video call on WhatsApp (and not only) at a time when we can not answer. Ad esempio perché stiamo terminando di fare altro, oppure siamo in un posto che non vogliamo mostrare agli altri, o magari perché c’è troppo rumore e dobbiamo spostarci. Fino ad ora, in tutti questi casi, se non volevamo perdere la chiamata non c’era altra opzione se non rispondere e, con il cellulare in mano, andare da qualche altra parte. Adesso, invece, ci sono le videochiamate di gruppo in cui possiamo entrare anche in un secondo momento.
WhatsApp: come funzionano le nuove videochiamate
Innanzitutto precisiamo che la possibilità di entrare in chiamata successivamente non è una opzione da abilitare, né è arrivato un tipo nuovo di videochiamata: tutte le “group call” (sia video che audio) ora permettono di partecipare anche in un secondo momento. Of course, the call must still be in progress when we decide to participate.
In practice, if we receive a call and ignore it (or even reject it), we’ll be able to find it again in the call list and, if it’s still in progress, we’ll see the camera icon (for video calls) or the telephone handset icon (for audio-only calls). Just tap on the icon to enter the call.
Naturally, this feature is only available on the mobile apps for Android and iOS, since on WhatsApp Desktop you can’t make video calls and group calls but only individual ones.
Video calls WhatsApp: what’s still missing
Group video calls were launched by WhatsApp in mid-2018, with a maximum limit of 4 participants. In April 2020, this limit was increased to 8 participants and, now, after more than a year comes the possibility to participate at a later date.
It is therefore clear that WhatsApp is in no hurry to enhance this feature, given, for example, the fact that there is no talk at the moment even of raising the limit of participants. WhatsApp video calls remain a function related to private conversations and continue to lack all the tools that could allow WhatsApp to become a useful tool for the business world.
A world in which, evidently, WhatsApp today does not yet want to enter.