While it’s not really that popular in the U.S., Facebook-owned WhatsApp is still one of the most popular messaging apps around the world. One feature that it has is that you can call other users through the app without having to pay carrier charges as you are using VoIP services or voice over Internet protocol. Now the app’s latest update brings a pretty useful new thing called call waiting. However, there is one minor limitation to this capability: You can’t actually put someone on hold.
The VoIP calling feature of WhatsApp is one of the most used within the app especially if you don’t want to incur extra charges. And if you use that feature a lot, there may be times when you’re on a call and another user will be attempting to call you. Previously, they would just get a busy line probably but with the call waiting feature, it can show when you’re receiving another call while you’re still on a current call.
When you do get that second call, you have two options. You can decline the incoming call or you can end your current call so you’ll be able to answer the second call if that is more important to you. What’s missing though as with the regular call waiting that we know is that you can’t actually put someone on hold to answer the inbound call and then go back to the original call. It’s a minor quibble though and something that can be corrected or modified later on.
While call waiting isn’t something groundbreaking of course, it’s rare for a VoIP service to have it as it is common with traditional and mobile phone systems. So WhatsApp having this feature is an advantage over the other messaging apps. We all know how competitive all these apps are so if this is something you need for your work or your personal communication needs, then you might want to try out WhatsApp if you haven’t yet.
The changelog in the WhatsApp update also shows fingerprint unlock support, new privacy settings for group chats, and if you noticed a battery drain from the previous update, a bug fix is included in this one. You can update the app now and try out the call waiting feature.
