WhatsApp Desktop Now Has One-to-One Encrypted Audio and Video Chat

Credit: WhatsApp

You can now call and video chat with your friends, family and loved ones through WhatsApp’s desktop application.

The Facebook-owned messaging app has announced that its desktop version now has private and secure one-on-one voice and video calls. Both types of calls are end-to-end encrypted, meaning WhatsApp won’t be able to see or hear them regardless of which device you’re using.

WhatsApp Desktop’s voice and video calls work in both portrait and landscape orientation and will appear on a separate resizable window, similar to what the desktop version of the Messenger app does. The window is also set to be on top of your screen so you “never lose your video chats in a browser tab or stack of open windows.”

Whatsapp Desktop’s audio and video chat icons for its new encrypted audio and video call features

“With so many people still apart from their loved ones, and adjusting to new ways of working, we want conversations on WhatsApp to feel as close to in-person as possible regardless of where you are in the world,” WhatsApp said.

A Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch that voice and video calls are not available on WhatsApp Web, the messaging app’s browser version.

WhatsApp also stated that although group voice and video calls are currently not available for their desktop app, they are working to include the feature in the future.

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Written by John Paul Joaquin