With Zoom and Houseparty under a lot of scrutiny, you might want to turn back to good old WhatsApp for your video calling needs – but how do you voice call on WhatsApp?
WhatsApp isn’t as generous as the other two in terms of how many people you can add to a group call, but group calls on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted, which means that only you and the people you’re calling know what’s being said or shared.
Group calls on Houseparty and Zoom do not have this layer of protection. This means that, if they were to be compelled to, Zoom and Houseparty would have the ability to hand over the content of users’ calls to governmental authorities or law enforcement.
WhatsApp group calls support a maximum of eight people (including you), so if you want to video call a group chat that contains more than eight members, you’ll have to exclude some people.
It’s also possible to end up in a group WhatsApp call with somebody you’ve blocked, though this would only happen if a third party was to add you both to the call.
You can turn off video during a group call by tapping ‘Video off’, but you can’t boot somebody off a group call. They would have to remove themselves by hanging up.
How to WhatsApp video call a group
As mentioned above, WhatsApp video calls have a maximum capacity of eight people, including yourself. So if you video call a group that contains more than eight people, you’ll have to select specific contacts to include on the call.
If you video call a WhatsApp group chat that contains eight people or fewer, everyone will automatically be added to the call.
- To WhatsApp video call a group, open your group chat and tap the phone icon
- If the group chat contains more than eight people, select the contacts you want to add to the call
- Tap the camera icon
How to WhatsApp video call specific people
You have two options.
Method one:
- Go to the ‘Calls’ tab, tap the phone icon, and select ‘New Group Call’
- Search for and select the contacts you want to add to the call, and tap the camera icon
Method two:
- Open your individual chat with one of the people you want to include in the video call
- Tap the camera icon, and once they accept the call, tap the ‘Add Participant’ button
- Search for and select the other contacts you want to add to the call, and hit ‘Add’
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.