WhatsApp ‘Calls’ feature is eventually spinned out – but iPhone users will have to wait a ‘duo of weeks’ before they can use it

By Sarah Griffiths for MailOnline 17:28 BST thirty one Mar 2015, updated 17:52 BST thirty one Mar two thousand fifteen

• App has a fresh, cleaner layout, including an extra tab for ‘Calls’
• Android users can make calls, providing they have an internet connection
• VoIP Calls have to be made inbetween WhatsApp users and are free
• Feature is expected to roll out for iPhone users in the next duo of weeks

WhatsApp very first hinted it would let users make free calls to each other early last year.

Now Android users can make voice calls and the feature will come to iOS soon.

The latest version of the popular messaging app also has a cleaner layout with three tabs for contacts, talks and calls.

Users simply have to click on the ‘Calls’ tab and choose a contact to phone a friend at no cost.

However this only works inbetween WhatsApp users and it relies on an internet connection.

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The update hasn’t yet been confirmed by the Mountain View, California-based company, but users of the app have taken to Twitter to confirm its appearance on their Android handsets.

Bertie C in London, said: ‘Whatsapp have calls now this is just too much #wificalling #WhatsAppCalls,’ while Dhanesh Nair tweeted: ‘Finally whatsapp call activated..#WhatsAppCalls’

#WhatsAppCalls why. Everyone has unlimited mins these days.

WHAT IS VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL (VOIP)?

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) lets people make free, or low cost, telephone calls over the web.

Popular VoIP services include Viber and Skype.

VoIP can be used anywhere in the world and can call landline and mobile numbers.

However, some people say they cannot see the update, which is available from the Google Play Store or WhatsApp’s site, indicating that it may not have flipped out everywhere yet.

And some users aren’t that amazed.

Fahida Khan tweeted: ‘#WhatsAppCalls why. Everyone has unlimited mins these days,’ while another user said: ‘Tried #WhatsAppCalls it’s good only if u have good internet speed.’

The ‘Calls’ feature requires an internet connection and works in a similar way to how Skype connects web-based calls – a service known as ‘voice over internet protocol’ or VoIP.

Other messaging apps, including Viber, already suggest free voice and movie calls to users, and it’s believed WhatsApp’s update is designed to rival such services.

The feature is expected to be available for iPhone users ‘in a duo of weeks,’ The Brink reported.

WhatsApp spinned out the feature to selected users in January and a screenshot exposed how the service would look on a Nexus five handset, in February.

The pic demonstrated the fresh ‘Calls’ tab and is exceptionally similar to the freshly updated version.

Dutch site AndroidWorld very first uncovered clues about WhatsApp’s voice calling feature in December, while studying the app’s test code.

Pro Sander Tuit then extracted layout files, pictures and text from the raw code to create a series of mock-up screenshots.

Skype was one of the very first firms to make VoIP a mainstream technology, and last year it launched a translator.

The beta version of its live translation device lets people speak to others in another language – even if they don’t know what they’re telling.

The contraption then translates speech instantly, providing both text and spoken translations.

The public version launched with English and Spanish translations, but the Microsoft-owned hard is looking to add more than forty languages to the service.

Google also recently added a live translation device to is Google Translate app and this could be the next step for messaging apps such as Viber and Whatsapp.

Last year, WhatsApp updated its service to make it tighter to avoid messages. The Facebook-owned app displays two blue ticks in the bottom right-hand corner of an individual message to demonstrate it has been read.

THE END OF TEXTS? WHATSAPP OVERTAKES TRADITIONAL MESSAGING

WhatsApp has overtaken traditional mobile phone texts for the very first time as users send thirty billion messages every day.

The app permits people to send instant messages and photographs via the internet rather without incurring charges from their network provider.

Its growing popularity eyed people send thirty billion WhatsApp messages a day last year, compared to twenty billion SMS text messages, according to research by The Economist.

Messaging apps have exploded in popularity over the last few years thanks to the growth of smartphones and 3G and 4G permitting quick internet connection.

But the stir is predicted to hit telecoms firms hard.

Research company Ovum found that the decline in the use of traditional text messages in favour of messaging apps was estimated to cost mobile network providers $54 billion by 2016.

Last year, WhatsApp, which was only founded in 2009, was bought by Facebook for $Nineteen billion – the most ever paid for a venture-capital-backed company. It was the social networking giant’s largest acquisition to date.

In a statement announcing the deal, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg described WhatsApp’s services as ‘exceptionally valuable’.

WhatsApp has more than four hundred fifty million monthly users and claims it is presently registering one million fresh users a day.

It makes money by charging users a subscription fee of $1 per year, albeit it offers a free model as well.

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