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WhatsApp takes on Zoom and Google Meet with guest calling

WhatsApp users can now invite others to join group and one-on-one calls even if they don’t have an account. Here are the details.

’Free, end-to-end encrypted calls for everyone with no time limits’

Today, WhatsApp announced the official rollout of guest calling, a feature that lets users “invite anyone to join a WhatsApp call – even if they don’t have a WhatsApp account.”

According to WhatsApp, guests must always be approved by the call host before joining, whether it’s a one-on-one call or a group call with up to 32 participants.

Guests enter a waiting room before being admitted, and hosts can remove them at any time. Guests also cannot see other participants’ phone numbers, send messages, or invite additional people.

WhatsApp says guest calling supports features such as screen sharing, hand-raising, and emoji-based reactions. Guests can also join directly from a computer browser, without installing the app.

Here’s WhatsApp on the new feature:

To get started, navigate to the Calls tab in WhatsApp, select the “+” icon, create a call link, and send it to the people you want to talk to – colleagues, classmates, or tutor – without having to worry about what apps they have.

Today’s launch comes after WhatsApp expanded testing of a similar feature for text conversations earlier this year, allowing users to exchange end-to-end encrypted messages with people who don’t have a WhatsApp account. At the time, however, the feature didn’t support voice or video calls.

Back to today’s news, WhatsApp also announced it is working on integrations with Google Calendar and Outlook, which will allow users to create WhatsApp call links directly from their calendars and add them to event invitations. The feature will require a WhatsApp plugin and is expected to launch later this year.

To read WhatsApp’s full announcement, follow this link.

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Avatar for Marcus Mendes Marcus Mendes

Marcus Mendes is a Brazilian tech podcaster and journalist who has been closely following Apple since the mid-2000s.

He began covering Apple news in Brazilian media in 2012 and later broadened his focus to the wider tech industry, hosting a daily podcast for seven years.