WhatsApp Lets People Without an Account Join a Call
WhatsApp has introduced guest calling, which lets an account holder invite anyone to join a call even if that person does not have the app or a WhatsApp account. Calls are free, carry no time limit and use the same encryption as ordinary WhatsApp calls.
Guests join audio and video calls from a computer browser through a shared link, and a call can be a one to one conversation or a group of up to 32 people. Only someone with a WhatsApp account can create a link, which keeps the feature anchored to the app while widening who is able to take part. The link is the only thing a guest needs, so the account requirement sits with the person creating the call rather than with everyone who joins it.
And the flow is deliberately familiar to anyone who has used a video conferencing tool. The host opens the Calls tab, selects the plus icon and creates a link to share, after which guests open it in their browser, enter a name and wait to be admitted.
Control stays with the host. Guests land in a waiting room and need approval before joining, hosts can remove them at any time, and guests cannot see other participants' phone numbers, send messages or add anyone else to the call. Those limits are drawn around what a stranger could leak or misuse rather than around what might disrupt the call, which is a sensible line for a conference that starts with a forwarded link.
Guests on a computer can also share their screen, react with emojis and raise a hand, which covers the collaboration features that make browser based meetings usable for work rather than only for catching up. Screen sharing carries more weight than the reactions here, since it lets a guest present a document or a design without installing anything first.
But the additions stop short of turning WhatsApp into a full meeting platform. Nothing in the announcement suggests scheduling inside the app, booking a room or managing recurring meetings, and the guest experience is limited to a browser on a computer rather than a phone.
That gap is scheduled to close. WhatsApp says it will add Google and Outlook calendar integrations, letting users install a WhatsApp plugin, connect an account and place a call link directly into a calendar invite, with guests able to join whether or not they hold an account. The company has not given a timing for the integrations.
The feature builds on a run of calling updates from the company, and it lands in a market where group calls are dominated by other products. The pitch is that the people a user wants to reach are already in a WhatsApp contact list, so removing the account requirement removes the last reason a call cannot happen at all.
So the change is less a new capability than a lower barrier, and the barrier it removes is the one that used to push conversations onto other apps. Whether guests who arrive through a link go on to create accounts is the question that will decide how much the feature matters to WhatsApp.
WhatsApp introduced guest calling, which lets account holders invite people without the app or an account to join a call
Calls are free, have no time limit and use the same encryption as regular WhatsApp calls
Guests join from a computer browser through a shared link, in one to one or group calls of up to 32 people
Hosts approve guests from a waiting room and can remove them at any time, and guests cannot see phone numbers or send messages
Google and Outlook calendar integrations are planned, letting a call link be dropped into a calendar invite
Source: WhatsApp
