In the future, WhatsApp will offer the option of leaving group calls and joining them again later or joining them for the first time. Similar to a video conference, they simply continue to run and are displayed accordingly. To do this, of course, you must first have been invited or called. Open conversations or some kind of live podcast do not work that way.
WhatsApp also shows in an information screen who is already taking part in the call and who has been invited but has not yet accepted. If the phone rings and the user presses “Ignore”, the option of joining later appears. If you take part and hang up, the re-entry also works.
Video calls can be made with up to eight people, and group calls can be more. They can be started from group chats, but also from one-on-one conversations by adding people.
Furthermore, end-to-end encryption of calls
According to a blog post by WhatsApp, the function was introduced because the number of group calls is still increasing and is still an alternative to face-to-face meetings. It should be gradually available from now on. “As group calls are becoming more and more popular with our users, we are continuously working on their further development – of course, the security and data protection of the end-to-end encryption remain intact.”
The Facebook subsidiary is keen to emphasize the encryption of messages and calls. Nobody can read along or overhear. “WhatsApp is firmly convinced that the desire for private communication is universal and particularly worthy of protection,” it says in earlier announcements and campaigns with which one would also like to oppose the introduction of state Trojans. These allow security authorities to access content. There is always a potential risk of exploitation – as the current case of the NSO software shows.
(emw)
