This past December, word came out that WhatsApp was preparing to add a new video calling feature to its popular chat app. At the time, the publication that posted the images of the new functionality in action, German Apple-focused website Macerkopf, speculated the feature would start rolling out to WhatsApp users across the world in a number of weeks. Almost halfway through 2016, we have yet to see video calling come to the Facebook-owned chat app, but it looks like that’s about to change.
According to multiple websites, including 9to5Google, some users are reporting the latest beta version of WhatsApp gives them the option to make video calls, in addition to more standard voice calls. The option has since been removed from the beta, according to those same users, leading 9to5Google to speculate that it’s a server-side change that enables video calling functionality.
Given the fact WhatsApp is testing the functionality with what appears to be a larger number of beta testers, it appears the company is closer to releasing video calling to all of its users.
When WhatsApp added voice calling more than a year ago, it gradually rolled out the functionality to the more than 1-billion people that use its app, which is to say that we’ll probably see the same thing happen with video calling.
[source]FoneArena[/source][via]9to5Google[/via]
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