FP StaffSep 01, 2022 18:01:54 IST
The calling feature on smartwatches may have divided people into two camps – one which thinks that it is a useful feature and one which thinks that it is a gimmick that has no practical use. Irrespective of what people think, tech companies think that it is a useful and premium feature, one that they would like to see adopted quickly.
WhatsApp, apparently, is planning to add voice call support to certain smartwatches, starting with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 & Galaxy Watch 5 series. The Meta-owned company will be rolling out an Android beta build that adds voice call support to Wear OS 3 smartwatches.
The feature is reportedly enabled by default on WhatsApp for Android beta versions 2.22.19.11 and 2.22.19.12. WhatsApp’s logo could already display on calls to distinguish them from normal phone calls. Users with WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.19.11 or newer will get incoming call notifications from the app on their Wear OS 3 compatible Galaxy Watch.
WhatsApp for Android beta v2.22.19.12 is bringing the ability to receive WhatsApp voice calls on a connected Samsung Galaxy Watch 5. Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 show a different UI for WhatsApp voice calls. As per screenshots shared on Reddit, WhatsApp’s logo is displayed under the contact details on calls originating from the instant messaging platform to differentiate it from normal calls. It is shown with Accept and Decline sliders.
The new functionality is currently exclusive to WhatsApp beta users and we may see a public rollout of this in the coming days, as per the report. The feature is expected to undergo changes before the final release.
