WhatsApp has kept us waiting a long time for voice calling, which was first confirmed at Mobile World Congress back in February 2014. But more than a year later, the company promises it will arrive within the coming weeks.
We already know the feature is close; it has been slowly trickling out to Android users for testing over the past couple of months, although you can only get it if you receive a call from another WhatsApp user who already has the feature enabled.
But according to WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, who was speaking at the Facebook F8 conference last week on a panel that also included Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, voice calling will be available to iPhone users very soon.
Acton said WhatsApp has spent the last year ensuring voice calling is the best it can be before bringing it to the service’s 700 million active users. The feature will allow WhatsApp to compete with the likes of Skype, Viber, and others, but it has to be solid to succeed.
WhatsApp’s offering will also have some key advantages: not only is it expected to be completely free (once you’ve paid your $0.99 a year fee), but it is also designed to serve WhatsApp’s millions of users in emerging markets, where only 2G data networks are available.
Acton initially promised that WhatsApp voice calling would be coming to iPhone in a “couple weeks,” but he later told VentureBeat, “Well, several weeks.” Either way, it’s good to know WhatsApp voice calling is coming soon to iOS.
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