You can now join ongoing WhatsApp group calls even after they’ve started
TL; DR
- WhatsApp introduces new optimizations for group calls.
- The company announced a new way to join an ongoing group video call at any time.
- This should make group calls feel a little more seamless or “spontaneous,” as WhatsApp suggests.
If you tend to miss group calls started by friends and family, WhatsApp introduces a new feature just for you. The company announced a new way to join an ongoing group call, voice, or video call at any time.
“Joinable calls reduce the burden of answering a group call at the beginning and bring the spontaneity and ease of personal conversations to group calls via WhatsApp,” the company said on its blog.
With the new feature, users can now join a call that has already started. Subscribers can also hop on and off the call if necessary, provided the call is still in progress. So you don’t have to feel too guilty about answering another call or running a little errand in the middle of a conversation. If you accidentally click Ignore on a group call invitation, that feature will also allow you to join at any time from the Calls tab.
WhatsApp also optimizes the call screen to accommodate this feature. The screen now lists the current members of the call, invited members, and members who have not yet joined.
It’s a simple but welcome addition to the group call feature that first landed on WhatsApp in 2018. This update also comes after several new quality of life features for beta users have landed, including View Once messages and long-awaited multi-device feature support.
