Facebook subsidiary WhatsApp's long-awaited voice calling feature is now available to all Android users.
As of yesterday, Android users with the latest version of WhatsApp installed on their devices, would have noticed a new "call" tab lining the top of their screens when in Facebook's instant messaging (IM) app. This allows users to now call contacts, as well as text them like they have always done.
The new feature, which is about a year overdue, has been in an extended beta testing phase, with news that WhatsApp was going to enable voice calling on the popular IM app emerging last February. At the time, the company said it would land in the second quarter of 2014, but subsequently pushed the launch date out.
WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum recently alluded to a focus on quality - particularly in emerging markets - citing technical issues around this as being the reason for the protracted delay in bringing the company's free voice service to market.
Koum confirmed in October last year that WhatsApp Voice was set for launch in the first quarter of 2015.
In a mid-January Facebook post, Koum shared that WhatsApp had reached over 700 million active monthly users. "Additionally, every day our users now send over 30 billion messages," he said, noting users could expect the firm to "keep building a great product" this year.
Apple availability
According to New Delhi TV's online news portal, the WhatsApp calling feature is due to hit iPhone screens "within weeks", although an exact time frame is not known.
On 21 January, when WhatsApp announced the availability of WhatsApp on Web browsers - basically a large-screen mirror of users' mobile phones - it noted this feature was not available for use via Apple devices.
Desktop capability was released for use via Google Chrome and for BlackBerry (10 and previous versions), Windows, Android and Nokia's S60 platform.
At the time, the company attributed the lack of support for iOS services to "Apple platform limitations".
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