WhatsApp Is Challenging FaceTime With Its New Video Calling Feature
When WhatsApp sold to Facebook for a mind-blowing 19 billion dollars in 2014, you bet your bottom dollar Mark Zuckerberg knew what he was doing. The app is one of the biggest messaging apps in the world with 900 million users as recently as September 2015. And they’ve implemented free voice calling and launched a desktop version all just earlier this year. But they have even bigger plans for 2016.
Now we’re learning that the messaging giant plans on going head-to-head with FaceTime by taking on video calling. A leaked image procured by German tech and Apple rumor site Macerkopf shows that internally, WhatsApp is currently beta testing the video calling feature and it looks a lot like the iPhone’s own FaceTime — but the difference is you’ll be connected to WhatsApp’s 900 million monthly users without the iPhone-only limitation. There’s also a miniature self-facing camera window that you are free to move around the screen when you’re connected on a call.
No word yet on when the video feature will launch, but what we do know is that WhatsApp is currently on version 2.12.12 and as far as word on the street is at the moment, version 2.12.16.2 is the beta that is being tested at the moment, so we’ll just have to be patient.
In the meantime, start prepping for your close up.
Will you be testing out WhatsApp’s video calling feature? Tweet us @BritandCo!
(h/t Cult of Mac, photo via Macerkopf.de)